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Guest Post
Giving Happiness a Boost
by Lida Sideris
It was six years ago when, while flying home from the East Coast, I experienced a series of epiphanies. Thirty in total at 35,000 feet in the air.
About halfway through the flight, I’d felt dreadful. Dreadfully air-sick, frustrated, impatient, perturbed, and disturbed. I was an emotional Mount Vesuvius, ready to blow. I sat huddled in a corner of the plane, shade pulled down, eyes squeezed shut, fighting nausea, with an onslaught of unhappy thoughts that made me miserable. My saving grace was that no one knew about my distressed state, but me.
The last leg of my trip had included a writer’s conference that left me uncertain. The query letter for my completed manuscript had been read aloud in front of three literary agents and an audience of writers. The first agent remarked it was “excellently written.” The other two stated it wasn’t the norm, so they’d likely discard it. I’d written the query as a blurb for the back of my hopefully soon-to-be published book. It was solid as far as I was concerned. Three agents, including the one who responded favorably to my letter, asked that I send my manuscript. Yet, I left the conference feeling unhappy.
That quiet discontentment unleashed the torrent of epiphanies during my plane ride. An epiphany is an illuminating discovery or realization. Mine consisted of a list of life changes that needed to be made to help me better guard my happiness.
I won’t name all the epiphanies, as some are too personal, but here’s a sampling:
- 1. No clutter.
- 2. No fretting.
- 3. No time spent on news media that could cause fretting.
- 4. No wearing feel-bad clothes (donations to my local thrift store keep me happy and hopefully make others happy too).
- 5. Feed my mind with positive notions/views/content.
- 6. Wear only comfortable shoes, but shoes that look good (a costly challenge at times, but a necessary luxury for me, as I walk a lot).
- 7. You can’t change others – work on changing yourself.
- 8. Criticize no one (criticizing keeps us from the full-time job of focusing on improving ourselves).
- 9. Be a success at what you love. If you’re doing what you love, you are a success!
- 10. Read and write more.
- 11. No time killers/breeze shooters.
- 12. Plant more flowers.
- 13. Use wisdom daily.
- 14. Be uplifting to others.
- 15. Enjoy dessert more.
- 16. Progress without compromise.
- 17. Keep up the momentum of anything that’s positive.
- 18. Become a published author.
Number 18 posed the greatest challenge since the “how” eluded me. Or so I thought. A day later, with my epiphanies still fresh, I received truly wonderful news from the lovely person who became my wonderful editor at my first publishing house. Did I need to drive myself to a state of emotional upheaval to make what I needed happen? Nope, but it made me realize happiness boosters are often at our fingertips.
It’s up to Corrie Locke, rookie lawyer and spunky sleuth, to find a gunman before he hits his mark… Slightly Murderous Intent by @LidaSideris
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About The Book
About The Book:
There’s a shooter on the loose who keeps missing his target. But that doesn’t stop him from trying again…and again. It’s up to Corrie Locke, rookie lawyer and spunky sleuth, to find the gunman before he hits his mark, Assistant Deputy D.A. James Zachary, Corrie’s hunky and complicated frenemy.
When Corrie is stuck with more questions than answers, she enlists a team with various strengths, from weapons to cooking skills, to help her find the shooter. Her computer whiz boyfriend Michael is on board. So is former security guard Veera. Toss in an over-the-hill informant and a couple of feuding celebrity chefs and Corrie’s got her very own A-Team. Okay, maybe it’s more like a B-Team.
Can Team Corrie hunt down the shooter before he scores a bulls-eye?
About The Author
About The Author:
Lida Sideris is an author, lawyer, and all-around book enthusiast. She writes soft-boiled mysteries and was a recipient of the Helen McCloy Mystery Writers of America scholarship award. Slightly Murderous Intent is #4 in her Southern California Mystery series, published by Level Best Books. Lida lives in the northern tip of SoCal with her family, rescue dogs and a flock of uppity chickens. To learn more, please visit: www.LidaSideris.com
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I Read What You Write! 
Thank you very much for hosting me today, Shelle!
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You are very welcome. I just loved the tone of this post and can’t wait to read the book.
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Thank you for your kind words, Shelle! If you have a chance to read, I truly hope you enjoy! Thanks again! 🙂
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