When you strip away all the tasks, to-do lists, self –inflicted responsibilities and living someone else’s dreams, you’ll find the beat of your own heart.

I know you heard that beat or you wouldn’t pursue life as an author. At some particular moment in time, you and the desire of your soul were one.

But then one kid gets sick halfway to soccer practice. As you turn around in heavy traffic, you mindlessly ask them why they couldn’t have become symptomatic before you buckled the twins in their car seats and chased Rover three blocks to put him back in the fence.

But all is not lost. At least you’ll have some writing time. Well, at least until hubby calls to let you know he invited the boss to dinner… in half an hour. The frig is empty and you begin to wonder if they still make Clark’s Chopped Beef Steaks since Lester died in 1998.

Somehow you survive the evening but by midnight you lay awake lamenting the fact you weren’t true to your heart.

Again.

Hubby’s boss laughed when you told him you were an author. It seemed like a worthless pursuit to him. What’s worse, hubby took the boss’s side!

Look, here’s the thing. Life is going to happen. Kids get sick. Monkey wrenches fly into your best laid plans every day. Being true to your heart doesn’t mean you forsake life and all that matters to you. But it does mean some very important things:

When you have the choice, you write. Pure and simple, when you have the option, follow your writer’s heart.

People’s opinions are just that. Everybody’s got one. For every person who believes in your dream, you’ll find a hundred who can’t. Don’t let them knock you off course.

The whisper of your heart is louder than the shouts of others. If you train your ear, you’ll hear that still, small voice over the noise of the day.

Following your heart will give you peace. No matter how hectic things get, pursuing your dream calms the storms of life.

Following your heart will cause others to respect you. They may not understand or even support your cause. But they will respect you. Trust me on this.

I know it’s mid-summer and you have a lot going on. No worries. Live life and don’t dare regret it. When you hear the whisper of your heart, follow it where it leads. You can do both, just not necessarily simultaneously.

You’ll be happier and so glad you did it. So will your readers, as well as your family and friends. Follow your heart!