Today I feel at peace with the world around me.
When I tell people I am a writer, they usually tell me it must be great to work at home. They ask me what I write, and then they change the topic to something else.
I understand why writing is not appealing as a career. It is difficult to make ends meet on the meager monies you receive for your writing. But as with any profession, there are mental wages as well as monetary wages.
Mental wages are non-monetary rewards you receive for doing something, and they can be just as valuable as monetary wages. Today I received the best mental wages that anyone has ever given me throughout my entire life.
At a craft fair today I offered my book Near a River. There a ten year-old dyslexic child ran up to me excitedly and told me that she had read the whole book and how much she loved it, that she has never read a whole book before in her life. She asked me if I would please write more books that she can read.
The wages the little girl paid me today were priceless and motivate me to continue writing.
I worked very hard to make Near a River special. I wanted it to encourage children to read, to love nature, to persevere, to look to their parents for guidance, and to choose to become independent when they get older.
As a former special education teacher, I wanted Near a River to be as helpful to all kids as possible, kids with learning disabilities and kids without. I used a dyslexic font, meaning that the “dyslexic letters” (such as the letters “d” and “b”) are different enough to be recognized as separate letters by children with dyslexia. To take the pictures for the book, I got on my knees and positioned the camera as if I were a child looking up. Then I spent almost a year putting it together.
Thanks to one little girl’s comment, I will never stop writing. Writing gives my life meaning and helps others. The mental wages from writing are worth so much more than money.
I hope that you too find peace and value in your purpose in life. Find something you are good at that helps others, and do it to the best of your ability every day of your life. Do it with all the love in your heart, body, and soul. And keep doing it until you have helped everyone you can help. You will feel happy instead of depressed, calm instead of anxious. If you do not receive monetary wages for your hard work, you will surely receive invaluable mental wages from the pure joy of helping others.
Let the encouraging words in these near a river posts help you
soar like an eagle above life’s storms.
The hero you are searching for to motivate you is not far away.
Celebrate every day of your life, even not so good ones?
Love shopping online and saving money?
A pearl of wisdom for your life…