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In 2004 after international motivational speaker Les Brown heard me speak and said “You have the gift,” he encouraged me to write a book. At that point, I already had four chapters written, but his encouragement motivated me and exposed me to a deeper level of my own courage to complete my first book, There Is More Inside. I had been dabbling in writing for nearly six years, but didn’t have the faith to believe that what I had to say was significant. In fact, by 1994 I knew that a part of my life’s purpose was to inspire people through writing. But something was shadowing me and I didn’t realize it until Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt, my editor, began to read and cross out, in red ink, sections of my manuscript.
With her usual comical, yet cutting tone she would say to me,“Renee stopping putting your pain onto your reader. Nobody wants your pain.” At the time, it didn’t make sense to me. In fact, although she doesn’t know it, she was really getting on my nerves. There were times when I wanted to erase her from the equation and do it “my way.” But she was my friend and the expert, so I sucked it up. I would rewrite and rewrite the section of There Is More Inside that disclosed my getting fired and my fiancé walking out of my life. I deleted names and events. The goal was to insure that There Is More Inside did not become my personal counselor’s couch.
As I have grown, I understand the impact of Sheri’s persistence. She helped to erase all traces of doubt that I was capable of writing a book that would tell a story and produce personal liberation for the reader. She helped to squash hesitations and false beliefs that emanated from former negative assessments of my writing ability by others. I realized that I had an experience that was shadowing me, but it wasn’t me! Like a shadow that reflects off a wall, those negative comments were harmless. Now that’s self-empowerment. If there is something shadowing you and hindering you from living your personal power try the following:
If you need help identifying and getting rid of your shadows, register for our 30-minute telecourse scheduled for Wednesday, June 20, How to Erase Doubt and Seize Your Personal Power. If you enjoyed this article you will enjoy the following presentations: There Is More Inside, Christian Women On the Move: Achieving Higher Levels of Spiritual Awareness, Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?, Just Between Us Girls Rap Session
Copyrights © 2007 by S. Renee Smith All rights reserved. No part of this article may be copied or reproduced without the written permission by the author. To contact the writer go to S. Renee. S. Renee is an Image Consultant, Motivational Speaker, Columnist & Author of There Is More Inside.
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