When The Sharks Are Just Below

(Jen McDonough is an amazing woman who not only overcame her fear but changed the direction of her life when she realized her own strengths.She is the author of LIVING BEYOND AWESOME...and knows she won't drown in water or debt anymore!)

So what does one do when they want something so badly, yet the task at hand seems IMPOSSIBLE?

I learned many lessons about perseverance in life but completing an Iron man event was one experience which taught me I could do something I thought was impossible by scaling my "mountain" in small steps.

The Iron man triathlon I would participate in included a 2.4 mile swim,112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run.For some it might have looked relatively simple, but I didn't even know how to swim. Truthfully,I had an enormous fear of the water. I have been told when I attempt to swim, I look like I am trying desperately not to drown! So, the first step included swimming lessons.
 The second step was to learn to use positive, confidence building inner and outer language, even on the days I struggled. You can't expect to succeed in anything when you are permitting yourself to be bombarded with negativism either from others or that little voice within you that shouts out failure every time you make a mistake. 

Next,I was determined to stick with every workout no matter how impossible the thought of swimming 2.4 miles was for me(up until race day, the farthest I had ever swam was 1.2 miles!).


Yet,whenever the race day did arrive, all my confidence went out the window as I stared out at the giant waves in the Gulf of Mexico. I started hyperventilating BEFORE the race even started! It did not look exhilarating;it looked terrifying.

Seconds before the race began,I started to shake my head "no" as I stared at the countdown clock,"Ten,nine,eight...". It was as if I was trying to stop time.The start gun went off and a massive tidal wave of bodies moved towards the water, but I didn't. 

There I was after training relentlessly for a year both mentally and physically frozen with panic unable to even get into the water.

As the last of more than two thousand swimmers shuffled past me in the soft sand, I willingly forced myself into the water.I had never been so scared in my life as I waded out over my head. My fears encompassed me as I wondered not just if I would be able to go the distance but if I really would not drown or worse, be eaten by sharks. 


I could barely breathe initially trying desperately not to panic as I moved stroke after stroke though the swells were large enough to hide the five foot buoys from my sight.I kept thinking of the sharks milling beneath me just waiting for dinner.With each motion forward I recalled the entire year of my life I trained for this moment. Yes, I was terrified but I also realized I had given so much time and energy to this,it would be unfortunate to let myself down.
When I sighted land, I went from "wanting" to do something extraordinary, to realizing I was"doing" something extraordinary and feelings of joy replaced my terror as I realized I was fulfilling my dream. My breathing and strokes no longer felt awkward and difficult but as natural as though I had been a swimmer all my life.

When I reached the final strokes on the swim, I couldn’t help but feel that God was smiling down at me, assisting me physically and emotionally in an experience I only once imagined I might do. More hurdles came my way, but I did finish Iron man, which was one of the most incredible experiences I have had!  


The impossible DID become possible that day because of faith, perseverance,developing a step by step action plan and finally putting my feet in the water and breaking through my fears to face my victory.

Any goal worth pursuing requires small tenacious steps and even with significant training and planning will seem initially terrifying or at least daunting when you first begin.Sometimes there will be additional obstacles and you might want to not try or turn back. DON'T!

Go for it, because I know sitting on the sidelines wishing you could do something causes far more pain than finally taking that plunge.Never live with the regret for not having tried. Regrets leave an ugly taste in your mouth forever.Going after even one seemingly impossible goal can make you stronger for every other mountain you face.

Does the thought of putting your feet in the water and taking a risk at something unfamiliar and scary make you anxious and fearful as well? 

Jen McDonough enjoys sharing stories of hope and inspiration through her books, speaking engagements, podcasts, and her blog (http://www.livebeyondawesome.com) and (http://www.fieldofdebt.com/blog/) Jen lives in Lindstrom, MN with her four awesome kids, two spirited dogs, one handsome husband, and her ugly mortgage. Connect with Jen through Twitter (@TheJenMcDonough), Facebook (Live Beyond Awesome), or on her website

How to Feed a Starving Dream...by Julie Saffrin

Julie Saffrin is a published author. Her story reminds us of why we should never give up!
She is offering each person who comments a chance to be entered into a drawing to win a free paperback copy of her latest book, BLESS BACK.

“There is corn in Egypt”
         Genesis 42:2
I’d suspected for months that the hope of my book being released with a traditional publisher might be ending, but I was not free to act upon my hunch until I received official news from the source. More than once I wanted to get ahead of the situation and take action. A couple of times I came close to speeding up the inevitable but my mind told me, “Hold.”


So, I did what I’ve come to see as a way to solve dilemmas in which I have no control. I applied Oswald Chambers’ remedy, “Trust God, and do the next thing.” While in my “holding pattern,” I created an action list of things that I could control. I tweaked again the manuscript that I had had professionally edited. I made sure I had received signed permission notes from those whose stories were in my book. And, I gained new contacts by using social media, people such as Kathy Brunner, whom I met through LinkedIn.


I checked off the last item on my list on a Tuesday.


The next day my hunch was confirmed. The economic downturn had affected my publishing world.


After months of mentally preparing myself, I was free to make a move with my non-fiction book, BlessBack®: Thank Those Who Shaped Your Life.


What I hadn’t prepared for, though, was my reaction and the sinking sensation that I was a failure and would never accomplish my heart’s desire.


Happy. Sad. I was both.


In the Genesis 42 story of famine in the land, Jacob knew that while there was a drought in his land, there was a granary in Egypt filled with corn. He just had to get his sons to travel there. The same applied in the publishing world. Times were tough. Here’s what got me on my camel, walking toward the Nile:


1)  I kept the facts in the facts box.


“Death is the one thing we all have in common but we never talk about,” Jeremy Hudson, a hospice chaplain in Cedar Falls, told me. A famine was in the land and a death to my dream of being traditionally published had come. Nothing would change that.


2)  I had waited for a sign of what to do and had received it.


Though the end of the road had come with my publisher and I was released from my contract, I needed to remind myself that it wasn’t the end of the road. Instead, I needed to view the situation as one of being given permission to pursue direction in a new land.


3)  The corn was in Egypt, not here.


No sense in wasting another day wallowing in might-have-beens or maybes. The time had come for me to pivot. Before I firmed up my decision to self-publish, I sent out a handful of letters to agents for representation, hoping on the outside chance that I would be picked up. I waited and waited. For months. Whatever the industry, economic downturn or not, what has happened to the words, “please” and “thank you”? Only one agent had manners, and wrote me a thank-you in his decline. With more doors closed, my hunger grew.


4)  I used my hunger to propel me.


The only way to satisfy my hunger to get my book published was to head in the direction of where the food was: self-publication, the land of opportunity.


5)  I readied myself for the journey.


“He who fails to plan is planning to fail,” said Winston Churchill. During my “hold” time, I had made a list of potential self-publishers. As I read their finely printed documents, I eliminated the ones with too many hidden dollar signs and chose a publisher with whom several friends had chosen. My writer friends were pleased with their decision and so am I.

6)  I tucked my dreams in my saddle bag, hoisted myself up onto the camel and started out.


For their journey, Jacob’s 10 sons had the company of each other. I went, armed with the knowledge I had gained and the people with whom I had made connections. They would and did provide nurturing and nourishment on the road. Along the way, I met my future book cover designer, Angie Hughes, of Angie’s Creative. She took BlessBack’s concept and created a book cover to match it. She also did the book’s interior layout as well as created my new website, www.juliesaffrin.com.


7)  I stayed on course, mile after mile, until I reached Egypt.


In February 2012, I arrived at my destination and my dream was made real. The paperback version of BlessBack®: Thank Those Who Shaped Your Life released. And in July 2012, the e-book version released. Now people can read the stories of those who have paid their thanks backward to their life influencers. Now people can discover how the power of gratitude changes us and helps us to live happier and purpose-filled lives. My hope is that you will step back from your life and look to the people who helped you become the wonderful you you are today. When you do thank them, you’ll find an altruistic after glow. Let their words or actions propel you to continue to work at fulfilling your dream.


And if you find are stuck in famine land, I encourage you to use my road map, board a camel, and go to Egypt. I’m here, championing you on.


Ever feel like Julie as though you were stuck and nothing was in sight but more famine?(share your thoughts and be entered to win a paperback copy of Bless Back)

JULIE SAFFRIN is the author of numerous articles and essays. She received her bachelor's degree in print journalism and English from the University of St. Thomas. She divides her time between her home in Minneapolis and her Adirondack chair at her cabin on a lake in Ottertail County with her husband Rick, sons Sam, Joe and Jake, and a golden retriever named Mick. She can be reached at www.JulieSaffrin.com.
 BlessBack’s Facebook Fan page at www.Facebook.com/blessback. Follow @blessback on Twitter.

Purchase Bless Back HERE