Not postponed indefinitely, just temporarily . . . I promise. Needless to say, I’m a little bit down, but not even close to being out. For those of you who’ve followed my author’s journey, you probably know that I’d been announcing my plan to have my book completed and published by the June/July time frame. But as the end of June came and went, I quickly had to revise my launch date to mid- to late-July. Well, it appears that we’ve come to the last day of July, folks; and guess what? I’m going to have to retract the publishing deadline I carried with me for nearly 3 months, because my e-book and paperback babies will not be making their appearances until (dare I say it) August, perhaps? (I’m almost afraid to lay this new (yet tentative) deadline down in print, but I’ve got to shoot for some type of goal, don’t I?)
To my incredible Accountability Partners out there, have patience with me and don’t you worry about a thing. I’m still in it to win it. I have my eyes on the prize and I WILL deliver the goods . . . in time. Mark my words on that! I’ve simply decided to be forgiving of myself for not meeting my goal in the time frame prescribed. My biggest concern, at this point, is to make sure that I just get my book publishing accomplished and not let this date-stamped hurdle cause me to bow out of the author race altogether. I’m not bowing out; I’m just temporarily derailed. I’m going to give myself permission to exist in an imperfect state. And that’s a good thing too, because imperfection is pretty much the only mode I know how to exist within.
Now, I’m not going to share the unfortunate details of why I didn’t hit my initial deadline. 
Let’s just say that there were some things that transpired that were and were not in my power to control. If dealt with in a more productive (rather than reactive) manner, my self-publishing dream may have resulted in some long-awaited celebrating right about now, but I digress. I’m exiting “Excuse” Avenue and heading toward “Next” Parkway. Here’s where that leads me to: I’ve decided to fight the overwhelming urge to prematurely promise what’s not in my full control to do, especially when navigating through new processes. Simple as that. Tentative deadlines are acceptable and nothing to be ashamed of. They give the goal setter something to work towards without going through a guilt trip if the timing doesn’t work out perfectly.
Like Simba in The Lion King, I’m wide-eyed, hopeful, forever learning, and making mistakes along life’s way, but that’s how most learning processes unfold, right? New processes become less intimidating the more you fail, learn, grow, and then repeat the “circle of life” all over again and again. The important take-away in it all is to embrace the learning or growing elements within the process. Get what positives you can take out of what challenges you face. That’s the philosophy I’m currently embracing with this whole writing thing. It’s all about “Progress in the Process”. And since I’m still present (in all my imperfect glory), I’m destined to keep failing, learning, and growing. One thing I’m “growing” in anticipation for is my book to come out. That anticipation has been heightened with the postponed launch, but I’m excited nonetheless.
NEXT ⇒ To release a little bit of my steam of excitement before my lid explodes off the pot, I’d love for you to check in with me tomorrow for a synopsis (soon-to-be paired up with my book cover) of my book baby. Wait a minute . . . you know what? I just realized that today’s post is jam-packed with some thought-provoking “Jana’s Quotables”. (I’ve taken the liberty to identify them in red above.) But the one that highlights my mood for today is . . .
degreesofmaternity.com 