Journey to Peace: A 12 Step Program for Anxiety, Panic, & Life by Peg Crompton

First published book

$14.65

Paperback

I am a firm believer in "everything happens for a reason", so if I was given the opportunity to do anything over again would I do it differently?  Hmm-there really is no way to know; however, if I could go back and erase anything during the publishing process, it would be my own anxiety.  Anxiety is the subject of my book, and sometimes I need to go back and read it to follow my own advice. Anxiety definitely followed me throughout the process of publishing this first book.  The writing was easy; it came naturally.  The words flowed out of me.  Publishing, on the other hand, was a new and uncomfortable endeavor.  I did not know a lot about the process.  Learning about publishing was fun.  The process of publishing was stressful.   I was excited, apprehensive, and fearful of making a mistake, yet I rushed in full throttle.

I was eager to get my book out there, yet knew that it is easy to misstep with anxiety and the speed of the process made me leary.  What was I getting myself into?

The excitement and anxiety made it difficult for me to engage in publishing from a calm and peaceful place.  So, if I were to correct this misstep I would slow down and enjoy the process more while employing some of my own techniques in the book. 

 Even when the book came to me in print my first thought was-"shit-now what have I done?  I really put myself out there."  More anxiety!  Publishing a book is difficult, brave, and quite an accomplishment for a person with anxiety.  In hind sight, I would do it all over again in a minute, but I would try to muster my confidence, follow my inner muse, relax, and toast the ocassion with a nice glass of wine.  My driving force was the opportunity to help others with the same issue and to realize my dream of being a published author-it may have helped to remind myself of that.