Authoring Your Life's Book

Many of you have probably heard the expression that New Year's Day is the first blank page of the book of your life, entitled 2014.  Or something like that.  And that's true, and a good analogy that I want to take one step further, and offer up a little reality to it.

Your life is your own book, to write in it whatever you want.  BUT, there will be critics.  

Take a look at the reviews for my book, Under a Broken Sun.  

http://www.amazon.com/Under-Broken-Sun-Kevin-Sheridan-ebook/product-reviews/B00EWM9ZC6/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_3?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addThreeStar&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

There are 24 of them, 3 of which are 2 or 1 stars.  Harsh critics.  Read each of them and then think about the one thing they had in common (besides the hating the language)....

...go ahead, I'll wait....

....ok, got it?   If not, I'm gonna tell ya, and if you did, I'm gonna tell you anyway, because this ain't no choose your own adventure blog.

None of the three finished the book.  Even a couple of the three star reviews didn't finish the book.  Some of the reviews complained about plot holes or things that weren't realistic.  Maybe they were explained later in the book, but they never gave it a chance.

Does all that upset me?  Not in the least bit.  I don't know these people, and they don't know me.  They gave it a try, and in some instances were instantly turned off, for one reason or another.  I may never know why and I don't care.  They have their life stories and hate foul language or are fiercly proud of their religion and feel offended.  I don't know and I'll never know.

How is all that relevant?  Think about the people you meet in your life.  Some will know you for only five minutes and give up on your book.  Some will stay with you until the bitter end, because they just can't get enough of your life's book and want to see how it ends.  As with writing, some will have criticisms that come from a background you may never fully know or understand, and like critiques on your writing, you can listen to it and pay attention to what seems to fit, ignoring everything else.  Or, you can ignore all of it even if some of it is true.  In either case, realize people come from all walks of life, and bring that experience with them when you meet them.  So if someone criticizes you for the way you dress, your lifestyle choices, or anything that you deem nitpicky and stupid, remember, you don't know them and they don't really know you.  For whatever reason, they don't want to read your life's book and that's fine.  They don't have to.  Plenty of us will still want to.