A wonderful story on being able to make a 50 year old goal and dream come true, wow what a very powerful story from the Friday Inspirational story from Insight of the day.
How A 50-Year Dream Finally Came True!
I’ve loved to read mystery novels for fifty years or more, ever since I was in grade eight and read The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes. It was thanks to my mom, Norma Hendricks, that I discovered the Sherlock stories. One day I was home sick with a cold. Mom came home to check on me at lunchtime and brought me several books from the library, including my first Sherlock. I ended up devouring so many of them that my English teacher started calling me “Sherlock” as a nickname. It was along about that time that I decided I wanted to be a writer, too, so I hatched the idea of someday writing a mystery novel of my own.
Then I forgot about that dream and plunged headlong into life: education, marriage, career, the whole works. I continued to read mysteries, at least half a dozen a year, but until a magic moment two years ago, I hadn’t given a thought in decades to writing my own mystery novel. However, that 50-year dream must have been alive and kicking, tucked away in the recesses of my creative mind.
The Magic Moment: Awake In The Night
One night two years ago, I woke up around 3 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep. Instead of trying to get back to sleep, I decided to just stay awake and see what happened. Maybe the Universe had some good reason for me being awake! I thought about reading the mystery novel that was by my bedside, but my eyes didn’t feel up to the challenge. Lying quietly there in the dark, listening to Katie’s steady breathing in sleep beside me, I did something that has changed my life: I started writing a mystery novel in my mind!
First, I needed a detective. If I was going to write a mystery novel I needed a hero so fascinating that I wouldn’t ever get bored with him. I also didn’t want him to be a typical tough-guy; he needed a combination of deep spirituality to go along with streetwise smarts.
Suddenly out of the mist in my mind came the image of a man standing on a bluff in Southern California, looking out over the Pacific Ocean. He was about 5’10”, casually dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, very fit, and had a Eurasian cast of feature. I could tell from the way he was standing that he had several qualities that were handy in his line of work: curiosity, non-linear thinking, never-give-up tenacity. I asked him what his name was. He said it was Tenzing Norbu, but people called him “Ten” for short. He said his father was Tibetan.
So, I had my hero. He was a part-Tibetan private detective living in L.A. Now, what mystery was he trying to solve? I asked him what he was doing; he told me he was working on a case that was more than just a case to him. It had an element that touched his life deeply. The case had brought to light issues from his own troubled past, issues that he was struggling to understand.
At some point I fell back asleep again, without writing any of it down. I didn’t think about it again until the next night when my eyes popped open awake around the same time, 3 a.m. This time I didn’t waste a moment: I brought the detective to light in my mind and set him forth on his adventure. I was excited to find out what he would do. Like the night before, I eventually fell back asleep somewhere in the early stages of the adventure. This process continued for about a week, until it got to the point where I was having a hard time holding it in my mind. Fortunately at that point I had the good sense to start writing it all down. Three months later I had finished writing the first Tenzing Norbu mystery.
A Second Magic Moment
One day I called an editor I knew at Hay House, to ask her to consider publishing a book written by one of the graduates of our coaching program. In the course of the conversation, the editor asked me what I was working on. I excitedly told her about the mystery I’d just finished and how it came to be. At the moment it was all pouring out, I had no conscious intention of “pitching” her the book, because in my mind, Hay House published only non-fiction. Imagine my surprise when the editor said, “We’re launching a line of fiction at Hay House. Would you give us the first look at your novel?”
Now roll the clock forward to the present: Hay House has just published the second book in the series, and this morning I was busy working on the next one! It’s taken my life in a whole new direction, one that has a lot of fun and excitement built into it. You just never know what’s going to happen when the universe decides to wake you up at 3 a.m.!
One of my favorite quotations is from Charles Kingsley: "We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about." I think it’s up to us to find the thing that gets us out of bed enthusiastically every day. I’m very grateful to have found a lot of those in my life, and doubly grateful to have discovered the adventures of my detective, Ten!”
Gay Hendricks
From Bob Proctor: Gay Hendricks and I have been friends for many years. You probably know him best for Conscious Loving, the classic relationship book he wrote with his wife, Katie. I’ve been to their home many times and can testify that they really walk their talk.
I predict you’re going to love the main theme, Ten’s Second Rule: Be on the lookout for unconscious limiting beliefs; they are like blinders that keep you from seeing what’s really possible.
One thing that amazes me about Gay’s mystery novels is that he didn’t even start to write them until he was 65 years old! Just in the last few years he’s written three books in the series and is working on the next, plus a movie script. Be sure to click here to get a copy for yourself. To learn more about Gay Hendricks feel free to visit: www.hendricks.com
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