Sunday Inspiration from USA Today Bestselling Author @Rebecca_Forster

I firmly believe that people come into your life for a reason. Not everyone is a person of importance in the grand scheme of things. Some simply pass a word as you wait in line or give you a smile on the street. These small courtesies can change a moment, even a day. Then there are the other people who enter your life with purpose and change it without you realizing it.

My husband is one of those people. We were the "When Harry met Sally" couple. A little oil and water, a little firecracker meets slow smolder. Yet, we married and have been joined at the hip for 37 years. For the first fourteen of those years, I was an advertising executive. My wardrobe consisted of sincere suits and brief cases; I traveled more than I was home. I started writing on a dare. I laughed in disbelief when my first book was published. My husband took me out to dinner to celebrate but he wasn't laughing, he was beaming. Somewhere along the way writing became my calling. I went from corporate to creative and received no resistance from him. I agonized over the difficulty of getting my work noticed. I worried about money since I had quit my career in the hopes of making a living writing. I promoted and wrote and cried and wondered what in the heck I was doing. I was not, after all, a writer. I just had some good luck with publishing my early books.

Then Keeping Counsel hit the USA Today bestseller list. I wanted to hear my husband say, "I can't believe it"; instead, he said, "no surprise".  I realized in that moment while I had changed as I pursued that elusive acceptance as an author, he had not. He constancy allowed me to take baby steps and then flight, his surety in my abilities made it possible for me to continue to push for - if not excellence - solid growth with each book. In his wisdom, he realized all the self-examination and tears were just expressions of someone feeling their way through unknown territory. And, in his kindness, when I that book hit a bestseller list, his pleasure at my success was selfless.

While we spoke of all the serendipitous things that came together to make Keeping Counsel a bestseller - a wonderful editor, booksellers who plucked it off the wall to give to customers, reviewers who gave it solid ratings, and readers who gave my work a shot - I realized what had really changed my life was not a list or the publication of a book but my husband's unwavering willingness to walk a road that was not one of his own choosing.

I wish every author the success of a bestselling book, but what I truly hope is that they will find that one person who believes in what they are doing. That's all any creative person needs to grow and succeed. That is what is life changing.

-- USA Today and Amazon bestselling author Rebecca Forster www.rebeccaforster.com