Thank You My Friends

Years ago I read this saying: “What is the question for which my life is the answer.” I believe it’s translated from Hebrew and has its founding in Hassidism, but I could be wrong. I wasn’t able to confirm that and only did a quick search. What’s important is that this question has stayed with me over time and I refer back to it every time I find myself at a crossroads.

Not surprisingly, this happened today. Yesterday, I got word from the literary agent I want to represent me that she is reading my book and having another agent in her office read it as well for a second opinion. I took this as good news. I also informed her that now may be the ideal time to market my book given a host of serendipitous circumstances. She thought that was great news. As you may or may not know, the publishing industry is in a state of flux. It’s shrinking and changing given the advances of technology and the shift away from physical paper books. So a new writer, trying to publish a book through a major house is pretty much the needle in the haystack scenario. Very difficult. Rarely happens. So as you can imagine, this tiny shred of good news filled me with immense joy. Crying joy. Begging and pleading with God joy to please allow this to happen. Allow my book to be published.

Then as I signed online, today, my daily quote was as follows. “When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it.” -- W. Clement Stone

What is the question for which my life is the answer? I think this is it. I do wake up every day with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on my books, making new friends and checking in with old friends. The journey I began last August with A SEAL in Uniform and continue with SEAL Master and Navy SEALs: Catch One continues to fill me excitement and determination. And because I began this journey from a place of passion with the mind set to enhance my life, I believe it to be genuine and correct.

And now I am here. Writing romance, talking about love, excitement and sex. Juicy sex actually that I have to tone down in fact, but it has given me a place from where to launch and a place to connect because after all we’re all human. We all want the same things. To love and be loved. To be sated and satisfied. To mean something. To matter.

And now I do. And you do too. In less than the past year, I have signed on to Facebook, Twitter and Blogger. I took on the name reddywriting, the very first email address I ever had, as my brand and announced to the world that I can be found @reddywriting.com, @reddywriting/Twitter, @aol, @gmail and @yahoo, though the latter I rarely use. And now I have new friends. Most of them virtual though no less real. I reconnected with old friends on Facebook, made new friends on Twitter, and share my thoughts via this blog as regularly as time permits. I chat, instant message and text. Being online has become a necessity and my phone nearly a permanent appendage to my body. But most importantly through this process I have become more human and a better me because of it.

The point of this rambling is to say thank you. Thank you to everyone I have met in the past year. Each of you brings a new dimension to my life and I am very grateful for that. I welcome you to share your lives with me as well whenever the mood strikes or you wonder “what is the question for which my life is the answer? “