Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading - "A Man's Daily Guide to Success"

What a beautiful day it is in Southeast Missouri. My hopes are you get the opportunity to get out in the bright sunshine and enjoy it some today before more storms arise.

Our reading for June 5th comes from "A Man's Daily Guide to Success"..."When you get an idea... in the middle of the night and you can't sleep, get up and write it down" (James, 2012).

Many of you are like I and had to learn the "hard" way the importance of getting up and writing down a "great" idea you've had in the middle of the night. Too many times when a "great" idea has awakened me I've made a mental note to write it down when I get up the next morning, yet when I get up I can't recall the specifics of my "great" idea.

However, many of my "great" ideas have come from such a situation. I finally began keeping pen/paper, then later a small recorder on the nightstand beside my bed; and now with the advancements of cell phones, I can just reach over and leave myself a audio text for the following day. When one of those "great" ideas awakens me through the night I can return to sleep knowing it's there to be worked with when I can take the time to do so.

Case in point, about 20 years ago I had a dream which I awoke from in the middle of the night which I could see as a children's book. I immediately sat up and reached for the pen/paper and wrote it down. The next day I developed the story and recruited an art student (I was a school counselor in Fredericktown, Missouri at the time) whom I knew was always up for a challenge, and asked him if he would like to draw the illustrations for the story. A few days later he returned with rough drawings of the characters for the children's book; they looked exactly as I had envisioned them in my dream (talk about a sign...I knew my dream was meant to become a published children's book).

Now, 20 years later my "great" idea, my dream, is about to become a reality as a published children's book entitled "Crystal the Condor Makes Friends", which I've posted a mock-up of the title page with on my webpage (I even found the student who completed the illustrations to get his approval to use his illustrations, which he graciously did).

"Twenty years later?" Remember, it's takes millions of years for a piece of coal to become the much sought after beauty of a diamond. Our "great" ideas, our dreams, are similar. Many times it takes years before we see them develop into the reality which we initially envisioned them.

Our personal success is built from these intermittent "great" ideas. Remaining committed to them and persevering to the point of their creation is the key.

So when you have an idea in the middle of the night which keeps you awake, get up and write it down...and as always...keep looking up. AJ

(More about "Crystal the Condor Makes Friends" to come.)