Not too long ago, I was asked by someone if I had considered writing a book. I was flattered that this person might think I would have enough to say in order to fill an entire book. I told her that I had, in fact, considered writing a book. Not necessarily the “great American novel,” but something with which to leave my mark on the world.
In actuality, my idea has been to put together a collection of the best of our visits. My hope is to be able to live off the royalties of the book during my “retirement.” Fortunately, this is a job I can do until the age of 85 or so. I don't see being able to “afford” such a luxury as retirement before then. Of course, if this column ever made it into syndication across the nation; I have heard there's a nice living that can be made in that area.
Right now, I can't really see myself “retiring.” Sure, there are some days when it would be nice not to hear that alarm clock at 6 a.m. (this morning was one such morning), but even on those days, I can manage to rouse myself up. Over the years, I have discovered that I am not one who does well with “nothing to do.” Sure, the freedom to do nothing is nice sometimes, but my life seems to function much better when I have a bit more structure. I have had the “what would you do if you won the lottery?” conversation before. I can honestly say, I would continue to work here. I really do enjoy what I am able to do that much. I hope and pray that my bosses would continue to enjoy having me do what I do enough to keep allowing me to do it.
So, here's my plan for my book. It will be a collection of 366 of my best columns (365, plus one for leap years) and it will be called “A Year on the Sunny Side.” There will be a different column for each day of the year. Along with the column, will possibly be an appropriate Bible verse and a “list” where the reader can document things like “five positive things I will accomplish today;” or “what I will do today that will brighten someone else's day?” The date for each column won't have a day of the week associated with it, so it can be used during any year, with a “bonus” column for leap year.
That's my plan. Of course syndication would help sell more books. So, if anyone knows how to accomplish that, I'm all ears. I know it will take a while to amass the needed number of columns, possibly until I'm 85. Good thing I can keep going with what I'm doing until then. Keep smiling here on the “sunny side.”