You Got This!

As I was contemplating what I would write, I realized instead of writing something intentionally profound, I would just share with you a little story and then we can talk about how this can be applied in your writing life. Here goes…

cheddar herb bread cooling

We live on this great farm in rural Wisconsin. We are a family of six. I hate shopping (yes, even grocery shopping). Now that we have that out in the open, you’ll understand the next statement: I make as much as I can here at home, so I never have to leave. Really at truly, that’s my life. We make our own hand soap, laundry soap, dish soap, dish washing soap, baby wipes, and I even cloth diaper in order to avoid having to make the weekly trek to the store to spend a small fortune on something that will fill our landfills. Some people think I’m ambitious, but those who know me understand I’m pretty lazy.

The one thing I’ve never been able to make at home is bread. Even when following time tested traditional family recipes, mine falls flat … literally …

My husband and children love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and I’ve mastered the art of making jellies and jams, I buy peanut butter in bulk, but every few days I found myself at the grocery store buying more bread. It frustrated me. (Did you see I used past tense there? The good part is coming!)

I took a bread making class and learned how to make bread. Watching a real live person make it, and being able to touch it, smell it, etc… somehow helped it all make sense. I went home and immediately found myself making gorgeous loaves of bread. I made them alone, and then showed my 8 year old how to do it. She turned around and made her own loaf of bread last evening. I wasn’t even in the room and she mastered it!
Did my teacher cast a spell on me? Was that spell contagious? Why did this all of a sudden go from being something I dreaded to something I enjoy enough to teach others?

It was three little words spoken to me:

YOU GOT THIS!

For the first time in my bread baking life, I wasn’t saying “on my – this is going to turn out badly”, I kept hearing Angie (my teacher) telling me YOU GOT THIS! And that positive self-talk along with some fabulous recipes and simple tips and tricks, took me from frustrated to fabulous! I was then able to instill that same confidence in my daughter. What a great gift to receive, and it really got me thinking about ways I can spread the message and encourage others.

What is holding you back from writing that novel? From sending out those queries? From starting that blog?

Whatever it is, let me tell you this:

YOU, YES YOU! I’M TALKING TO YOU!

YOU GOT THIS!

Show some love and leave some comments telling me what it is you are going to do this week simply by believing in yourself!

P.S - if you ask nicely, I may share my bread recipe with you!

Hugs,
~Crystal

Crystal tandem babywearing Delphine and Breccan 

Crystal is a church musician, babywearing mama, business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger, Blog Tour Manager with WOW! Women on Writing, Publicist with Dream of Things Publishing, as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Reedsville, Wisconsin with her husband, four young children (Carmen 8, Andre 7, Breccan turning 2 later this week, and Delphine 7 months), two dogs, two rabbits, four little piggies, a handful of cats and kittens, and over 230 Holsteins.

You can find Crystal blogging and reviewing books, baby carriers, cloth diapers, and all sorts of other stuff at: http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/