This has been a great month of planting seeds. Hopefully, you’ve taken the time to do that and you have some momentum going. It’s easier for a moving object to continue moving than for a stationary object to try to start moving. So, don’t stop. Keep moving forward. Hoe your row.

You want to care for your emotional garden so that you will have healthy emotions, and plenty of them. In this extra Saturday in March, let’s wrap this lesson up by me giving you a few tips on things you can do to keep your emotions healthy, particularly as you write.

• Remember that writers can be very sensitive and that may cause you to feel things more deeply than others would.

• When you feel those negative emotions, you must tend to them right away. Pluck those weeds out of your garden immediately and replace them with healthy seeds.

• Water your emotions frequently by reading great books (I highly recommend the Bible), getting encouragement from your friends and fellow writers. Tell yourself that you are a good writer and reinforce that with practice and development of your craft.

• When nothing seems to be happening outwardly, know there is a miracle taking place inside you. Let it happen.

• Do NOT listen to the voice that comes as a thief in the night when it tells you you’ll be emotionally barren. Know that the seeds are there and will produce fruit!

• Let the fruit ripen on the vine. Don’t try to pluck it too soon. Artificial ripening never leaves a good taste in your mouth.

I’m confident you have inside you the ingredients to produce success in your life and in your writing career. It’s not easy being the farmer of your garden but you can do it. Keep hoeing your row. I promise you, the harvest will be well worth the effort.

If you haven’t planted those emotional seeds of success, don’t worry. There’s still time. Plant them now. You owe it to yourself to take the time to do this. You’ll be glad you did.

I’d be thrilled for you to share your experience with me. How did the planting go? Did your feet get wet when you watered the seeds? Did you have to pull a lot of weeds? Email me at reba@mybooktherapy.com. I’d love to hear.

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Links to Other Posts: Spring Into Action Part One: Plant Seeds of Success

Reba J. Hoffman is the MBT Member Care Coach. She has a PhD in clinical counseling and is the founder and president of New Hope Institute of Counseling. Reba uses her gift of encouragement to help writers overcome negative emotions so they can live their dream of being a writer. Her works appear in publications such as Running for the Woman’s Soul by Road Runner Sports and The Good Fight by Donna Hicken. She is the author of My Book Therapy’s Dare to Dream, a Writer’s Journal. Contact her at reba@mybooktherapy.com.