Tuesday 7 August 2012

Keeping The Faith #Olympic #Inspiration


Hello friends and readers. Welcome to the month of August. Yes, I know. I’m a few days behind. Seems to be the story of my life at the moment. J
Before I get to today’s post, I want to announce the winners of recent giveaways on my blog and on the His Princess virtual book tour via Breathless Press.
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Kemi wins a copy of Tease by Deatri King-Bey from her recent visit to my blog here.
Laurie and Fdigsby win copies of His Princess from the VBT last week.
Congratulations to the winners! To everyone else, check back regularly for other giveaways.
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So back to today’s post.
The month of July was a very weird month for me. I can say it’s my worst month this year. I’ve been off my game, haven’t done any writing and struggled to meet my other commitments, which is unlike me.


Of course, the fact that I got some shocking personal news and then lost a member of my family didn’t help to improve my mood. My husband dealing with family stresses and the kids on summer holidays haven’t helped either.

But honestly, the biggest source of annoyance and disappointment has been from fellow writers/authors. While I won’t mention names, I will say that it is quite apparent that we’re not all on the same team. Not every author is happy when others do well. Not every author wants to help others.

My philosophy has always been:
1.      The world is big enough for all of us.
2.      United we stand, divided we fall (especially when you’re starting out)
Not everyone agrees. I’ve certainly learned that lesson the hard way.

Fortunately, while all this was going on, I went to church few weeks ago and watched a very inspiring video of Derek Redmond in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. I don’t know if you guys know this story well. But he was a British athlete who had been the favourite to win the 400m race.

During the race he tore his hamstring but still got up to finish the race despite his pain and injury. The most remarkable thing about it was that his father jumped down from his seat to help his son finish the race.

I had goose-bumps watching the video and nearly cried. It was the most inspiring thing I’d seen in a while and really hit me when I needed it. You can watch it here too.


The lesson I learned was that our journey through life will be bumpy. When you aim for the stars, you will have to deal with turbulence. And even when you get past the disturbance, you could still drift off your chosen path for a while.

However, it is important not to give up, even if you know you won’t win the race. Keep the faith.
You never know where your source of support will come from. For Derek Redmond, I’m sure he was surprised to see his father on the track holding him up as he hobbled to the finish line. And he certainly didn’t expect to receive a standing ovation from the 65,000 spectators in the stadium, which he got. He didn’t win a gold medal but he won the respect of millions who’ve seen that video since.

For me, my uplifting moment came at the end of the month when by chance I checked All Romance eBooks website. You can imagine my amazement when I found all 3 of my Men of Valor books in the Historical Ancient category bestsellers at the same time.


To say I had my biggest smile of the month that evening is probably an understatement.

Ultimately, my readers lifted me up when I needed it most. Yes, I know I’m not selling hundreds of thousands of books, like E.L. James. Yet! I await that day eagerly. J But I’m extremely grateful for each small milestone.

So I want to say thank you again to all my readers who continue to keep the faith and to those fellow writers who continue to show their support. It is you that make this journey worthwhile.

To anyone who is going through a challenging time out there, I want to encourage you to keep the faith. Your hard work will not go unnoticed.

I’ve drawn inspiration from the London 2012 Olympics. The following athletes have inspired me:
1.      Andy Murray who stood up to his nemesis Roger Federer;
2.      Mo Farah who showed what hard work and dedication can bring; and  
3.     Usain Bolt who it seemed was written off in the past year because other athletes ran faster than him. Now, he is a legend for defending his title successfully.

All three athletes faced challenging times but still came through with gold medals.
You can too!

Have you been inspired lately? Perhaps by the Olympics. Share your stories. Enjoy your week.

8 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry for your loss, Kiru. You've obviously had a rough month. {{hugs}}
    I loved this post. Very inspirational. It's important not to give up when you're feeling let down. You never know if success is just around the corner. And sometimes success comes from just being in the race. BTW...I remember crying when I first saw that video. :-) Congrats on the bestsellers!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Rhonda, thank you so much. I was trying hard not to cry when I watched that for the first time. I had tears in my eyes though.

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  2. Ah, Kiru, so sorry for your loss, but what an inspirational post this has been. I hadn't seen that video before, so now I have tears in my eyes. Thanks for sharing.

    And wooop to the three ARe bestsellers!! That's fab!

    Here's hoping August will be much better month for you :-) xx

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    Replies
    1. Hi D, yeah, the video has that effect on people. Thank you so much. I'm hoping for a better month too. :)

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  3. Sorry for your loss, Kiru. May the good Lord get you and your family through each day.
    July was trying but I'm reading your post and I can sense that it made you stronger. Stay strong & keep doing what you do. Goodness and success will keep coming your way.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much and a big AMEN to your prayer. :)

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  4. Thanks for being an inspiration and sorry for your loss. I needed this blogpost. xoxo

    ReplyDelete

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