Yesterday the most wonderful thing happened to me.  I am still euphoric.  Floating on a cloud of happiness. Giddy.  I got a call from a publisher, followed by conformation, that they are going to publish a book that I wrote.  I will sign the contract on March 1, and receive an advance.  The money is not the thing that excites me.  It is the fact that a publisher thinks that what I have written is noteworthy, and wants the world to read it. Hours and hours of time finally validated. Carolyn said, "You are now not just a writer, you are an author!!

When you are a writer, validation is everything.  I just hope the people who buy the book will love it.  My friend Rebecca  Perkins is the only one who has read it.  She encouraged me not to give up, on the days when I thought it was going nowhere.  Her encouraging words meant the world to me.  

Sometimes we forget that the people around us need encouragement.  We get so caught up in our own world, our own problems, that we don't look out from our world--and consider that the people around us occasionally need a round of applause.  An confirming word.  A smile.  Take someone to lunch.  Tell them you think they are wonderful, thoughtful, fun or any other complimentary thing you can come up with.  Don't gush.  Just be a friend.

I've told you about my mom's TL's.  Tell Last.  At the supper table, we traded good things we had heard about someone that day.  But we got to Tell Last--they had to first tell something good they had heard about us as well.  It was very effective in teaching us to LISTEN, and pass on the good we had heard about someone as we went through our day.

My son Scott is the very best at this.  He sends my blog to everyone he knows, and when he gets a response that is complimentary, he will E-mail me and say, "TL, mom."  When I can't come up with anything, he is always ready to give me a TL on credit.  I owe him at least a dozen credits at last count.  

Scott's love language is praise.  And he is certainly a great praiser himself.  He makes me smile.  It is a wonderful thing to be appreciated.  It is a wonderful thing to be loved.