Encouragement

I had something happen today that really made my day, I got a message from someone who follows my page and is currently reading my first novel, A Killer’s Heart. It was an unexpected message because it came from someone outside of my inner circle of family and friends. I won’t put the whole message on here but a couple of snippets. “You are an extremely talented writer” was one and the other was “I have been thrilled and scared by Stephen King novels but I have never had a book get inside my head like this one!” Now this person probably doesn’t realize this, but this unsolicited message from out of nowhere is probably the most satisfying thing that has come out of my leap into writing. I have book sales and great reviews on Amazon and blah, blah, blah. I like the reviews because they lead to more books sales, but there is nothing personal about them, so there is no real sense of gratification from them. This was different though, and it gave me a sense of validation that I needed. When you try something hard and you finish it, you expect your family to be supportive of you, and they totally have, but it’s different when these things come from a place you dont expect them to come from. It was the first time I felt like I had achieved success, I guess that is what success is for me. It also made me stop and think about if I had done something similar lift up other people. People that would not expect it to come from me, people that I didn’t feel any sense of obligation to reach out to and say Hey I see what you have done here and it’s awesome.

I have to admit I could only think of one time that I had done something like this, some of that is because my memory isn’t what it used to be, but some of that is certainly because I don’t do it enough. I don’t do it enough with my family, I don’t do it enough with my peers, and I don’t do it enough with strangers. This realization has inspired my one and only New Years Resolution, (and I have never had a New Years Resolution by the way). That is to promise myself to be more encouraging of others, and to give more recognition to those I care about. I just don’t do it enough. Who knows, the encouragement and recognition I give someone may prevent them from just quitting, or it may just like in my case make my day, and it also may encourage them to do the same, creating a bit of a ripple affect. I still don’t believe I am an extremely talented writer, but truthfully, I don’t have too as long as somebody else does.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Matt