April is notorious for fooling us. It starts out with April Fool’s Day practical jokes and is followed by spring-winter-summer-spring weather. We think it is springtime and summer-like temperatures show up. The weekend after we put all the sweaters away in the attic, it snows. Unpredictable weather shows up in every area of our lives, including our writing journey.

Don’t be fooled into not living your dream. This month we’re going to uncover some of the root beliefs and challenges we face and learn ways to overcome them in your writing life. No foolin’! So grab your life and let’s take a walk.

We’re naturally drawn to bright, shiny objects. We see something that glitters and we simply must have it. I saw a computer mouse the other day that was covered in half karat rhinestones. Seriously? We gravitate toward the better life, the better car, the better house, the better… well, you get the picture.

But the sad thing is most of our lives are pretty remarkable just as they are, but in many cases our eyes are blinded by the glitter we’re focusing on. I’ve seen far too many people ruin their lives chasing shiny objects. I don’t want that to happen to you. You are way too valuable to our world to spend your life hiding behind emotional Ray Bans.

Here are three facts I’ve found to be true about our lives, and our writing journey:

1)   The glory is in the journey, not the destination. A great example is when John Maxwell asked Coach John Wooden what he missed most about basketball after he retired. He was the most decorated and accomplished college basketball coach and yet his answer was, “The practices. Once we got to the game I could just roll up my program and sit on the side lines. The practices were the most exhilarating.”

2)   Brightest isn’t always the best. Take Mother Theresa. She was not flamboyant. She didn’t wear fancy clothes or jewelry, although I think she could have. She was excruciatingly simple and yet, shone brighter than any star in the universe and arguably touched more lives than any single woman in history.

3)   True gold is three feet further. If you want a fake Rolex watch, all you have to do is go down to the guy on the big city corner, slip him twenty bucks and go home with a bright, shiny—albeit gaudy—knockoff. You can’t get a real Rolex on the street corner or at a fall festival vendor booth. You have to go to a certified jeweler and plop down your life savings. True gold is always more of a reach. You have to dig three more feet after everyone else gave up. That’s where the real gold is.

If you see the life you always wish you had and are jealous because it just seemed to come so easily to that person who’s life you’re drooling over, you can bet it’s a knockoff. It’s not real. Know what is? YOU! Your life and your journey to be a writer. Embrace and work towards it, but also look for the gold all along the way. Don’t chase bright, shiny objects because most likely they will turn out to be flames. You’ll get burned.

So what are your shiny objects you’ve been chasing? I’d love to hear from you. Email me at Reba@mybooktherapy.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

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.