Living Thanksgiving
May you enjoy these blessings:
Enjoy:
Being alive;
Food, exercise, and activities that you love and that keep you healthy;
Harmony between what you think, say, and do;
Living your best life by being your best self;
People you love and who love you;
Communities of family, “framily,” friends, and colleagues;
Bringing joy, laughter, and the spirit of play into your life;
Believing others are doing their best;
Having enough of what you need to sustain those who are dependent on you and yourself,
and showing charity, generosity, and compassion to others;
Finding ways to express your gratitude as part of a spiritual practice
that gives you comfort, peace of mind, and a sense of certainty;
The freedom to learn, create, and live as you wish while acting on your beliefs;
A home which is a comforting, nurturing refuge that you enjoy sharing,
in a community that shares your values;
Letting the beauty, bounty, and value of nature inspire you to live green and simply, and avoid waste;
Supporting independent local businesses;
Access to bookstores, www.bookshop.org, and other media
that keep you informed, inspired, entertained, and optimistic
(My favorites: movies, jazz, 18-century classical music);
Using as little technology as you need;
Balancing desire and necessity, stability and change, the personal and the professional;
Seizing opportunities that make your life better;
Recalling memories you treasure;
Sleeping well because your discipline enables you to make the most of every day.
Create:
Labors of love that excite you and give you
a sense of mission, enthusiasm, and commitment,
while keeping you learning, growing, and fulfilling your potential;
A way of working that enables you to produce your best work,
giving it the lasting meaning, beauty, and impact you desire;
Challenging goals, a plan to achieve them,
while putting short-term efforts in the service of your long-term goals;
Your ability to reach a growing number of fans around the world who love your work;
Patience with yourself and others’ appreciation of your work;
The communities that you need to succeed;
Running a small business which expresses your values and enables you to reach your goals;
A lifetime commitment to serving your fans, and developing your craft and career
(Must reads on writing and publishing: Jane Friedman, Stephanie Chandler, and Publishers Weekly).
Understand:
The challenges humanity faces, our blending global village is an ever more diverse, beautiful mosaic,
and that your courage is needed to say and do the right thing
(My standbys: columnists David Brooks, Thomas Friedman, Nicholas Kristof,
and The New York Times–despite its compromises–
Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart).
May you have much to be grateful for, and may life grant you more.
Author:
Mike Larsen is an author coach who loves helping writers achieve their goals by adding value to readers’ lives. In 1972, he cofounded Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents, which sold books to more than a hundred publishers and imprints before declining new submissions. His books include How to Write a Book Proposal, fifth edition, coauthor Jody Rein; How to Get a Literary Agent; and Guerrilla Marketing for Writers: 100 No-Cost, Low-Coast Weapons for Selling Your Work, second edition, coauthored with Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman, and David L. Hancock. His next book, Writing Success Guaranteed: 9 Superpowers for Making a Living and Changing the World is in progress. Mike is cofounder of the San Francisco Writers Conference and the San Francisco Writing for Change Conference. You are welcome to write to Mike at any time with questions. His website is https://larsenauthorcoaching.com/.
