Your Own Book Is More Than A Product. It's A Treasure!

by Bonnie Boots

I was speaking with a doctor that was about to retire from 20 years of private practice. When I asked her what her plans were for the future, she said, "I'm not sure. I want to take at least a year off just to de-stress, but I'm afraid if I don't do anything at all, I'll lose my edge."

I asked her what, in her work as a family care physician, she'd been most interested in treating. Her eyes brightened and she said, "Juvenile diabetes. In fact, I often thought about limiting my practice to only that."

"There's your answer," I told her. "You should take a year off to write a book for the parents of children with juvenile diabetes, helping them understand the disease and how to care for their children."

The doctor quickly shook her head. "Oh, no. There are hundreds of books on diabetes. There's nothing I could write that hasn't already been said."

"You're wrong, " I told her. "In your years as a doctor, you had thousands of unique experiences. You saw parents who excelled at helping their children and you saw parents that were dismal failures. Your experience, your observations and your understanding of the dynamics of those families are extremely valuable. Think how many families you could help with what you know."

"No," she said again. " I've read everything in the field of juvenile diabetes. I could show you dozens of books that cover anything I could say."

We both walked away from that meeting disappointed. The doctor, because she still had no idea what to do with her retirement. And I was disappointed that the doctor couldn't see what a valuable contribution she could make to the world.

One of the greatest mistakes most people make in life is to undervalue what they know. They tell themselves, "Everybody knows that." Or "Anybody can do what I do."

A man that was very dear to me, a man with blazing artistic talent, frittered his life away working at a quick-copy shop, saying, "Oh, anybody can draw." When, in his 50's, he died of a heart attack, his wife went through their home gathering sketchbooks and canvases. She took them to the curator of a museum who told the widow her collection was one of the most exciting bodies of work he'd seen in years. He appraised the value at an eye-popping sum and immediately made plans to exhibit the work.

The curator saw what the artist, in his short life, was never able to see--that his perspective, his viewpoint, his observations of the world were valuable because they were unique, and thus could give others a new way of seeing the everyday and mundane.

The artist left a will that assigned new owners to what he thought were his most valuable things--his house, his life insurance, even his collection of concert t-shirts. But the greatest treasure he had in this world went to the grave with him, unused and unrecognized. That, more than anything, is what made me weep at his passing.

Inside you is a great treasure. It may not be artistic talent or medical experience. It might be a talent for inspiring and motivating people. It may be a lifetime of experience in childcare or business management. It may be distinctive observations you've made about insects. It might be knowledge of how to raise a family on little money.

Whatever it is, it is unique to you.

On this entire planet, with it's billions of people, not a single person has seen through your eyes, felt with your emotions or thought with your mind.

Vow that from this moment on that you will recognize and honor the treasure chest inside you. Vow that you will fulfill your duty to share your treasures. Do not take to the grave the knowledge, the experience and the ideas that you have acquired. They are too precious, and life is too short.

To help you, I have created a PDF file containing a tiny "cut and fold" treasure chest that you can print out on cardstock, as shown below.

Right Click on this link to download your PDF file of the Inner Treasure Chest Craft Project.

Print and assemble your treasure chest, then cut out the 5 gem cards and write a word or note on each card that represents a skill, a talent or a body of experiences or knowledge that you possess. Keep your gem cards in your treasure chest, close to your computer, as a constant reminder to honor and share the treasures inside you.

 
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