Though never documented, it is legend that Ernest Hemingway said; to be a man, one must plant a tree, fight a bull, write a book and father a son.

As of today, I’ve nailed three of four.

This two-year journey of publishing “Empty Abundance; Finding Meaning Through Mindful Giving” generated far more experiences than just writing 150,000+ words to get to the 33,796 that go out to the public today. So much more:

• I learned more about the struggle between ego and my higher purpose. Carved on the living room ceiling at 3 am were these words, “Do you really want to help the world or do you think you are a New York Times bestselling author?” Thanks, God, for my partners who continually reminded me to focus on the former and pray that if only one person expands their horizon of giving, then I will have achieved something special. Check your ego at the door.
• My son, Tim, says there are just two questions to ask around every goal you set for yourself: “What do you really want?” and “what are you willing to give up?” Like most people, I’ve said for 25 years, “I should write a book.” Consciously or not, for the first 23 of those years, I wasn’t willing to give up the thousands of hours it takes to put the prose to the page. A friend asked me yesterday, “would you have done this if you knew how hard it was going to be?” and my answer was the same as when asked about starting a business – “No, I would not have, but now that it’s over, I’m damn glad I did.” 
• I’m fully exposed now. It both scares and excites me. With encouragement from the editors, my writing became more painful with each edit. They convinced me rightly that, to be credible, I must deliver the unvarnished story, not just the good stuff. The first publisher that rejected the book convinced me that I was bloviating. I did a massive edit after that slap in the face, to add more truth, as I knew it.
• The greatest unintended consequence of the book is that I found a new avenue to one of the sons that I fathered. As any good Dad would do, I became a client of his new promotional business, Borderline WebDesign, when it started early this year. Neither he nor I anticipated what working together, which requires great patience from both of us, might do for our relationship. Kevin has driven every major detail of the book for the last six months. He has said he is learning a ton and it has been good for us individually, personally and professionally.

So, here we go! Maybe my version of adding to a dialogue that started 2,500 years ago with the Buddha, “Life is suffering,” and in the Torah/Old Testament, “It is more blessed to give than receive,” will gain traction, maybe it won’t. In either event, all I have left on Hemingway’s list is to fight the bull… or run from one. Stay tuned to my social media pages for my trip to Spain, 2015!

Peace,

Tim McCarthy