Oh, well, the glory couldn’t last.

My days as number one on the Amazon.com bestseller list (Erotica, yo!) are passed. I’m hovering at number ten now. Dirty and Broken have dropped in rank and made it onto some lists, too…pulled along by Tempted I guess and not bad for two books a year old. I’ll take it, yes I will!

It would easy, I guess, to look at the lists and ranks and be upset because I’m not number one anymore. But let’s face it. There will always be someone with a better deal, better sales, a better cover. You can stomp your feet and gnash your teeth or you can sit your butt in the chair and write the best book you can. I know what I choose.

Not that I’m immune to envy. I’m most certainly not. I want the pretty and the shiny, too. But I try never to let the gimme get in the way of the thankee. I work hard for what I have achieved. Nobody can take that away from me. I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.

And it’s so true, isn’t it?

But there are so many people in the world who want want want and never take the time to be grateful for what they have. They spend their time detailing all the nitpicky things wrong in their lives — so their hotel bathroom doesn’t have a soap dish and someone else’s does. So what? Instead of being grateful they can afford to stay in a hotel and take a vacation, they focus what they don’t have.

I find people like that very draining and difficult to be around, because I want to shake them and say “you are blessed. Be grateful.”

I’m not immune to envy. I want. So I’ll strive to get what I want, and if that means working hard, well, I’ll try. And if it comes to me, then it comes and I’ll be grateful once I get it. And if it doesn’t, well…lesson learned for me then, huh?

M

PS — wrote ten pages today again, but don’t have the urge to make a counter for the progress. Steady as she goes, loves. Steady as she goes.