Ebook Sample Content Preview:

I know I’ve spent a lot of time discussing changing things about your life that you’ve grown comfortable with. When you decide to actively pursue your dreams you have to do something many of us struggle with. You have to get comfortable being uncomfortable.

What does that mean?

It means that being uncomfortable will become a fact of life as you continue to follow your dreams and push your limits. Once you reach a place where you are comfortable with the changes you’ll be making, you will need to step outside of your comfort zone again.

The thing about pushing your limits and following your dreams is that it is an ongoing process. Human beings are adaptable. When we try something new, it is uncomfortable initially but as time passes it becomes more comfortable. This often happens before we’ve truly reached our goals.

If you want to follow your dreams and actively pursue your calling, you must be prepared to keep expanding your comfort zone.
Personal growth happens outside of your comfort zone.

So in order to continue to pursue your dreams, you must make the decision to be comfortable with discomfort. As soon as you decide that you are ok with discomfort, you will be able to step outside of your comfort zone much easier.

This doesn’t mean you won’t feel discomfort. It just means that you won’t react negatively to it every time. You’ll be prepared for it and better able to handle it.

I can speak from experience. This isn’t an easy thing to do but it’s extremely necessary. Pursuing your calling or life’s purpose is a long term endeavor. The journey to a successful life is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to be in it for the long haul. This means that you should be prepared to set goals, reach those goals and push past your comfort zone lots of times over the course of your life.

The best way to get comfortable being uncomfortable is to do it in stages. While there are some people who can jump into the freezing cold pool and adjust to the temperature in one fell swoop, others prefer to dip their feet in slowly. I’m going to give you the slow approach but if you’re the type to jump right in, I encourage you to do that as well.

Ebook Sample Content Preview:

Chocolate Caramel Candy

"A wonderful Thanksgiving or Christmas treat!" Original recipe yield: 8 dozen 1 inch squares.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped salted peanuts
14 ounces individually wrapped caramels
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

DIRECTIONS:

Lightly grease one 13x9 inch pan.

To Make Base: Combine the first three ingredients (1 cup milk chocolate chips, 1/4 cup butterscotch chips and 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter) in a small saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over low heat until melted and smooth. Spread into the bottom of the prepared pan. Refrigerate until set.

To Make Filling: In a heavy saucepan melt the butter over medium-high heat. Stir in sugar and evaporated milk. Bring mixture to a boil and stir for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the marshmallow cream, 1/4 cup of the peanut butter and the vanilla. Add the peanuts and spread over the base layer. Refrigerate until set.

To Make Caramel Layer: Combine the caramels and cream in a saucepan, stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Spread over the top of the filling and refrigerate until smooth.

To Make Frosting Layer: In another saucepan combine the last three ingredients (1 cup milk chocolate chips, 1/4 butterscotch chips and 1/4 cup peanut butter), stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Pour over the caramel layer. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Cut into 1 inch squares. Store in the refrigerator.

Ebook Sample Content Preview:

Cornmeal Thigh Scrub

This delightfully aromatic scrub works exfoliating wonders. The natural botanicals and cold-pressed oils work together to loosen stubborn cellulite and soften the surrounding skin. Massage your thighs twice a week for remarkable results.

1 small avocado stone
4 tablespoons cornmeal
2 teaspoons aloe gel
1 tablespoon cold-pressed grape seed oil
6 drops juniper essential oil
6 drops lemon essential oil

PREPARATION:

1. Put the avocado pit in a heavy paper bad, then wrap the bag around the pit a few times. With a hammer or wooden mallet, give the pit a few good whacks to break it up into smaller pieces that will fit into a coffee grinder or small food processor.

2. Grind the pieces to a gritty meal consistency. Mix the cornmeal, then place in a sterilized shallow jar, seal, and label.

3. Pour the aloe, grape seed, juniper, and lemon oils into a bowl, then sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of the avocado and cornmeal over the wet ingredients and stir. Add additional meal if necessary so that you have a gritty paste.

4. Mist your legs thoroughly with body mist, then apply the paste, using small, circular, massaging motions. Relax for 15 minutes and rinse with warm water.

Ebook Sample Content Preview:

We heard a rustling in the woods but couldn’t see anything. My husband and I stopped to listen, wondering what it could be. Through the tangled bush, off the side of the hiking trail on our North Georgia mountain farm, we finally spotted a beautiful, brown-mottled cat munching on a bird. Feathers were dripping from her mouth and whiskers, just like the cats you see in cartoons. Then, to our surprise, we heard a kitten’s meow, and a tiny gray tabby with gold eyes came out from the underbrush. Unafraid, the kitten came right up to us, but the mother cat ran away.

I stooped to pick her up and nestled her under my chin. Her soft face rubbed against my cheek. “Isn’t she sweet?” I said. My husband agreed. I think he loves cats more than I do. “Look, hon,” I said, “she’s got six toes, like the Hemingway cats.” “They look like little mittens,” he said. “We have to keep her. Can we, please?” “Sure, but what do you think Figuero will do when we bring her home? He’s had the run of the house for years. And what about the dog, having to deal with another cat?” “Everyone will have to adjust,” I said. “She’s coming home with us. Her six toes must represent a good omen, don’t you think?”

After much deliberation, we decided to name her after the 1968 classic tune by Tommy James and the Shondells, “Mony Mony.” At home, Figuero, our super-fat, laid-back, black-and-white cat tolerated Mony’s playfulness. Our border collie, Ruby, knew to stay back from Mony’s lightning-fast swats.

As Mony grew, however, her feral ways returned. Though I didn’t understand what was going on with her, I knew she was miserable. She wouldn’t let us come near her, and when we did get close enough to touch her, she hissed. Her attitude got so bad that we gave her the nickname “Meany Mony.”

After being hissed at one too many times, my husband said, “Don’t you think we should bring her back up to the farm where she came from? She probably will be much happier there.” I nodded in agreement. “Yes, she’s not at all happy as a city cat. Besides, she would have the barn for protection, and I believe she is quite capable of taking care of herself.”

I bought her a feeder that would hold enough food to carry her through the week. We left her with much trepidation, hoping and praying she would be okay. Sure enough, all went well. Actually, she not only got by, she thrived. Her whole demeanor changed. She started loving on us again. Upon our weekend arrivals, even before the car door would slam shut, we could hear her coming to greet us, meowing her hellos with each step.

After a while, we had more trails cut through our property. On the hilly part, we have two good miles of paths. Hiking the steep terrain helps keep us in shape. Our border collie loves to hike as much as we do. She bounds ahead of us, looking back constantly to make sure we are following her. We can even hike through the summer, if we get out early in the day before it heats up too much.

One day, we had another tag-along. Behind us we heard Mony’s telltale meow walk, just like she does when she comes to greet us. We were amazed that she wanted to hike with us, and we thought for sure she would turn back. But she didn’t. She stuck it out for the entire hike. Now she follows us regularly when we go on our walks.

One summer day, we let too much of the morning slip by before we started on our trek. We soon realized we should have waited until the next day. Sweat pouring off our brows, we looked back and saw poor Mony still behind us, panting, with her ears bright pink. A real trooper, she never stopped to rest. Now that’s some cat, a dedicated hiker, through and through.

When I think of Mony, the hiking cat, she gives me hope for the dream my husband and I have for our property. We want to start a tree farm and grow pesticide-free vegetables for our community. We hope to get involved with Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), whereby people would sign up to receive a portion of our crops on a weekly basis, and to also provide fresh produce to local farmer’s markets.

Who are we, one might ask, to think we can become farmers at midlife? But to us, becoming farmers is like the cat becoming a hiker. My husband has been a corporate executive for eighteen years, and I’ve been a stay-at-home mom. Like Mony, who was miserable in the city, my husband has become extremely uncomfortable with corporate life. On top of being unhappy at work, the daily four-hour commute downtown makes it even harder to face each day. Since we bought our farm property, he lives for the weekends. He loves working outside.

When he’s in the great outdoors, growing and building things, he feels like he’s in his element. I love being his helpmate, too. Although hard work can be a challenge, it totes great rewards, one of the biggies, stress relief. As his work downtown trudges on, worry etches lines in my husband’s face. Spending time at the farm erases those lines.

Ebook Sample Content Preview:

One of the best ways to start promoting your book is by using Social Media sites. You want to make use of Facebook, Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn and you may want to consider using Pinterest if you have images and photos that you can share.

Twitter is great for setting up a campaign that offers short messages. You can easily write up 30 messages and schedule them to automatically Tweet out for you over the course of a month. These Tweets should be promotional and could include short snippets from your book.

Twitter Parties are a fun way to attract attention to your new book. Use hashtags to promote your party and provide guests with a reason to attend. Holding a Q&A session is a great option for this.

On Facebook you can create a Page for your book or use your main account if you want to brand your author name. Again you can share quotes and images from your book and you can even share your affiliate link to your sales page.

Remember that on social sites you want to do a ton of sharing. So it is a great idea to share a little about how you became an author, what inspired you to write this book and more. You could even go into more details with your characters from the book. This would work extremely well for a fiction book, you could offer tidbits that are not totally obvious in your book.

Pinterest can be used to create a visual story board of your book. If your book is fiction then this can really attract attention to your book. You could develop your characters on your boards and include more information about them. All of this would be done with photos and images. You could display their likes and dislikes along with their favorite foods and more. All you need is a little imagination to develop this marketing method.

The main problem with social sites is that they can eat up your time. So allocate a certain amount of time each day to spend on your sites. You can also automate your posts on these sites by using tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer.