My publishing advisors helped me create plans for promoting the book and emphasized the necessity of high frequency and consistent marketing. That made sense! Little did I know in early 2013 that in September, just at the point when I was preparing to pour myself into promotional activity, that I would have a medical event that required me to pull back on my 'out in the world' activities.
I teach about surrendering, and here was another chapter in my own journey—surrendering to the reality of my body's needs. In the midst of my internalized 'shoulds' about marketing, I became clear that I had another opportunity to walk this path of trust and let the book do what it wanted to do. And it did. Over the ensuing weeks and months, I recognized that there was 'something else' taking place that I didn't control. I discovered, after years of working on it, that the book truly had and has a life of its own. It's done well in the marketplace and received outstanding reviews. More importantly, I've heard from many people about the book's impact on them or a family member. I'm beyond grateful that the writing is helping people develop a new understanding of and more compassionate, accepting relationship to themselves.
For me, the enduring lesson has been to deeply embrace the profound truth and to experience the soulful relief that comes with knowing that we are not in charge of most things in life. We've all heard this many times, but perhaps we need to receive the message a thousand times over, as it is one of life's most difficult lessons to embody. If we follow the automatic urge to be in control where we have none, we simply get in our own way. There is a great unfolding at work that is far more intelligent and trustworthy than our ego's devices. To the best of my ability, I walk with this trust every day. It's a work in progress.
If you don't have your copy of Deep Living: Transforming Your Relationship to Everything That Matters through the Enneagram yet, it's available from Amazon in hardcopy and in Kindle format.
