The Next Right Thing

As we journey through life, we are constantly confronted with decisions. I read somewhere that we make thousands of decisions a day. Really? I had no idea, but when you analyze your thoughts you must decide if you are going to get up, when and what to eat, what to wear, what to read, whether you are going to answer a text, and when and with what words. Yes, we do make many decisions. Sometimes at the end of a day, I say what did I do with this day? It may not feel like I did any next right things.

Then you get a day where you are called to make a specific or next right decision. Today was that kind of day. Myrna, my coauthor, and I had a group call to hopefully ask and have answered our final thoughts on our last book edits. It was definitely the next right thing to do and the meeting is now over.

Suddenly my mind has begun swirling ideas like leaves blowing to and fro in the autumn wind. Many new questions were raised about the next right thing in regards to marketing, promoting, and just letting our friends and families know when the book hits the market!

Many of the ideas were not new, they had just moved from the back burner to the front burner. Thinking of the book’s completion and how to get the message out has been on the back burner. On the front burner was the amazing respect for every book I hold in my hands knowing the process we were embroiled in. My new, deep appreciation and respect were directed at the passion that held an author, myself included, to the calling to put words down on paper and the desire to want to share their heart with the world. Every word felt like a decision – every next right word, every next right choice of bold, italics, or capitals, every personal disclosure, and the list goes on. Editing, graphic design choices, beta readers, proof-bound copies, and each big and little decision. And now comes all the I should haves – I should have included this, I should have left out that, I think the data may have changed, and all the self-doubting. I know it is not just me because I have spoken with so many other authors plagued with similar questioning. Let’s just say that my judgment of others is going to be very gracious in the future, just as I hope readers will be gracious with us.

With all that being said, I am now called to move my back burner considerations to the front burner and to light a fire under the next right thing. As Emily Freeman says, “Our next right thing will often be to wait. Give time to allow the clutter to clear. Create space for your soul to breathe. Make room for your desire to show up at the table. Begin to name the unnamed things.”

I am grateful I can bring my uncertainty into the gracious presence of God. He never promises clarity but always gives a hopeful vision. As I open the curtains of my mind, I know I will see patches of light and they will do what light does, shed light on the next right thing on the path before me.

I will be sure to write and let you know the next right thing you will need to know to purchase the book or to recommend the book to a parent who may be dealing with the question of what is the next right thing they could do as they navigate the ld/adhd parenting journey.