Adoption Reimagined: Don't Ever Quit

It sure has been a minute since I last updated about my book, Adoption Reimagined. I haven't quit! I have made progress towards my publishing goal.

How about you? What goal did you make in 2023? Did you make it a priority or get distracted and put it on the back burner?

I got distracted, I admit, but I never put it on the back burner or threw in the towel. I continued to make plans, decisions and steps that directly related to my end goal.

I tried to write every morning. I continued to gain knowledge about adoption by talking to others in the adoption arena. I read other's stories. I made a logo. I worked with my publisher every month. I added a marketing expert to my team. I let others read my manuscript to critique it and make it better. I had photos made to launch my book. I have sent all the chapters to my editor for final review.

Every step was a step towards my goal. Your goal may not be to write a book. What is your goal? What steps have you made towards accomplishing your goal?

I have been working on this book for about 5 years. So, never ever quit! Never give up! Just keep moving forward because steps towards your goal is progress.

I also added some cheerleaders, prayer warriors and encouragers to my team. Who do you have that can support you, encourage you and kick you in the pants if needed? We are not meant to DO life alone! It was not good for Adam to be alone. We are created to be in relationship with one another.

Challenge

• What is your goal?

• What choice can you make that keeps your goal a priority?

• How can you eliminate distractions that take you away from your goal?

• Who can you add to your team to help you with the details so you don't get off course with the minutia?

• Who can you ask to cheer you on and pray for you?

Whatever it is you are struggling with, I would love to be your cheerleader and help you plan the next steps that are right for you.

Let's chat! Call or Text 817-992-3177

Cluttered Home, Cluttered Mind

Have you ever correlated your home with your mind? Which are you?

1. Is your home and mind neat and organized?

2. Is your home and mind scattered and disordered?

3. Is your home used effectively, but your mind is impeded?

4. Is your home a mess, but your mind is arranged effectively?

I admit I am a number 2 with my mind is sprinkled with brilliant clutter.

I have a mistaken belief that if I get my house clean first, I will be able to focus on writing my book or my Life Coaching services. I know this notion needs to be expunged. This pic is not my house, but it could be.

Have you ever seen The Incredibles? Bob gets another call to save the world and angrily yells, "No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again. I mean... Sometimes I just want it to stay saved, you know? For a little bit."

I catch myself saying, "No matter how many times you clean the house, it always manages to get dirty again immediately. I mean... Can't it just stay clean for a little bit so I can focus on my passion and heart's desire?"

I hope you are a number 1. Maybe a number 3 or 4 would be easier to change. Lately, I have been doing a couple of things that help. Maybe you can implement some of these to help you get back to doing what God has been telling you.

• Decide what God has been telling you to get back to it. Is He wanting you to use your life experiences to help others? Is He nudging you to write a book or blog? Is He saying be the best mom you can be? Does He want you to volunteer? What is God placing on your heart?

• Look around. What is impeding you from doing life with God? My attitude is a big thing. Even doing laundry, dishes and bills, I can do life with God. Those things don't have to be separate; I can involve God in the dishes and laundry and toilet cleaning. What hinders you?

• Ask for help. I am not good at asking for help.

• Do what is in front of you without making excuses. Quick! Say okay and start doing it before your mind and Satan make up a stupid excuse. You have about 1/2 a second.

• I put a tub in the kitchen and began to really evaluate everything. I determined how often I used the thing, if I really loved it, if it was just collecting dust and if I could part with it. Right now I have filled up my tub completely several times and plan to donate it. I could plan to have a garage sale or join a garage sale, but I'll have to store all this stuff, so I am donating it.

Make a list of how you can declutter your mind, body and soul. What can you eliminate? What can you implement? You may think making lists and thinking about these things never helps. Maybe your 2022 goals never panned out, but if you never plan, if you never make a goal, I guarantee, you will hit that. Doing something different is the only way to get something different.

How nice and clean and peaceful this looks. Let's both strive for this in our homes and our minds.

Adoption ReImagined Excerpt: Chapter 4 Brain Health (Part 1)

My goal in this chapter is to explain what might have contributed to shaping your brain’s pathways and give you strategies to repair the broken pathway between the automatic systems in your brain and the logical, thinking part that helps you respond appropriately to drama, stress and disrespect others exhibit. I want to give you coping skills that make the ‘jump’ from involuntary reactions to intentional actions that are shorter in duration and less intense.

The human brain is so much more complex than a computer because we can pull from the past while living in the present and it affects our future. That is why being content and settled is so hard, we can’t put aside those bad experiences in the past. They affect our thinking, our actions and reactions.

Adoption is one of those circumstances that can lead to so many feelings and questions. Many times, even the answers and facts can’t satisfy because they cannot erase the previous feelings and long held beliefs. Logic from our neocortex does not help override the emotions we have created.

I have a very wise friend who deals with several mental illnesses who said, “Prepare your mind in the stable times for the unstable moments. Fill your mind with good things like scripture, music with positive messages, books that encourage and TV shows with wholesome messages. What you put into your mind,” she says, “will come to the forefront in times of panic and mania.” She practices surrounding herself with good people she trusts that understand how to help, encourage and support. She is open and honest with those people. She spends time with them volunteering, eating, shopping and worshiping together.

Reimagine your adoption by saying this below. Write it. Post it on a sticky you can see easily. Take it to heart. If you have learned emotions from your previous experiences, whatever they are, you can also avert them, recreate them and refocus on different ones, too. Try it 30 days!!

Adoption is a fact in my life. Adoption is not a guide. Adoption is not an obstacle. Adoption only has the power I give it.