Tuesday September 13, 2005

News, updates, & pronouncements from Pat Ballard, the Queen of Rubenesque Romances

Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent. 
Eleanor Roosevelt

Something to think about.... 

We can secure other people's approval, if we do right and try hard;
but our own is worth a hundred of it.
 Mark Twain  

How many of us have lost ourselves in trying to get the approval of someone else?

Do you approve of (and like) the person you are, or are you so busy being what/who someone else thinks you should be that you don't even know who you are?

As Mark Twain said, approving our own self is worth a hundred approvals from someone else. There is so much peace in accepting ourselves and being okay with the person we are.
 
That's not to say we don't keep trying to learn and grow. But that growth and knowledge should be to feed the person that we want to be. Not the person someone else wants us to be.

What a wonderful experience it was for me when I began to truly accept my larger self. I felt as if I'd finally come home. This was who I was born to be. And I didn't care who approved or not.

But it's not just body image we try to get other people's approval on. It can be anything in your life that you are basing your self-worth, or self-approval, on. Anything where you compare yourself with someone else and wind up feeling "less than" is eating away at your happiness. Your contentment.

For instance, my mom was a wonderful housekeeper. She tried so hard to instill her values in me on how I should keep my house. So, for years, I compared my housekeeping with hers and came up far short. Finally I realized that, although my house is clean, I actually like and feel comfort in having a little clutter around me. Especially in my office. It makes me feel warm and secure.

That's the day I stopped apologizing for my office. I don't have to have anyone's approval of it.

So, who are you, really? The person you approve of, or the person someone else approves of?
 

 A Word From Pat

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I fixed Thanksgiving dinner for our little family on Wednesday evening. Eric, Tiffany, Shaun and Kayla came over and we had a great time together. Thanksgiving is one of a very few times a year that I actually cook and set a fairly formal table. I do want my grandchildren to grow up knowing that "Mimi" can do it when/if she wants to!

Then, Thursday morning, Joe and I got up early and headed for Mississippi, where we were surrounded by a big, loving family. We had 42 people at the Thanksgiving meal, and several others drifted in during the day. Aunts, uncles, and cousins came in from the surrounding area. There were four states represented: Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and Tennessee.

I guess Joe and I will head back to Texas for Christmas. I'm kind of dreading the long drive, but it will be fun when we get there.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, safe and happy holiday season.

                                                  Love,

                                                        Pat

P.S. Be sure to check the Calendar of Events section below for details on radio shows I'll be interviewed on in the next few days!

Visit Pat's Place at www.patballard.com │ Write me at patballard@bellsouth.net

Books — Existing and Upcoming

Abigail's Revenge, my fifth novel, is now finished! It's a Romantic Suspense, and is different than any other novel I've written. It's also a good bit longer.

Abigail Avery was framed for the murder of her father and sent to prison when she was only eighteen years old. A bunch of crooked "good ole boys" from her hometown of Leaky Springs, Mississippi want her land and house. Abigail doesn't have any idea why they would want her property. But they were willing to kill for it and send her to prison, hoping to get her out of the way long enough to convince her to sell or to acquire it in some other manner. But now, ten years later, Abigail's out of prison and heading back to Leaky Springs to get revenge on the people, especially the judge, who stole ten years of her life.

And now that I'm finished with Abigail's Revenge, I'm going to finish my first nonfiction book, The 10 Commandments of Self-Love, a motivational book on accepting ourselves as we are instead of obsessing over trying to look like some unrealistic actress or image we see in an magazine.

Meanwhile, my new book Dangerous Curves Ahead—a compilation of 10 short stories—is available through my new publisher, Pearlsong Press (www.pearlsong.com). After its May 2004 publication, Dangerous Curves Ahead received a glowing review from Cindi Appel on the Fearless Books review website. Appel wrote:

Ballard doesn’t pull punches. She shows her heroines exhibiting ample will and tenacity to tell off those who would shame them into becoming something they aren’t just to blend in with society's narrow-minded notions of beauty.

To read the entire review, go to www.pearlsong.com/dangerouscurvesahead.htm. You can also read an excerpt from Dangerous Curves Ahead's title story, Dangerous Curves, by clicking on the title link in this sentence.

Pearlsong Press has also re-released my existing books, Wanted: One Groom, Nobody’s Perfect, His Brother’s Child and A Worthy Heir.

The Pearlsong Press edition of Nobody's Perfect was called "a charming, witty love story with a twist" in the July 2004 Small Press Bookwatch section of Midwest Book Review. Read the whole review at www.pearlsong.com/nobodysperfect.htm, or an excerpt at
www.pearlsong.com/nobodys_excerpt.htm.

I’m extremely happy that my books are now available in both print and eBook format. Please visit Pearlsong Press and check out all the options that are available.
 

Ask your local  library to stock my books. That way you can read them and recommend them to friends.

We the Educators

This is the second of several stories I will share with you in this series of "We the Educators," regarding our responsibility to speak up and say something to people who insist on promoting the "fat is bad" mentality.

When I worked in the alterations department at Opryland Hotel, Jane Hale came to work with us. She was probably in her late sixties at the time. She was one of those wonderful "old school" Southern ladies, with a very pronounced Southern accent.

She hadn't been working there long when one day she approached me with the company newsletter in her hand and said, "Payat," (that's Pat with two syllables), "the company is holding a weight control simanah (seminar) next week. I'll be happy to go with you if you'd like to attend."

I stopped what I was doing and looked up into her earnest sky-blue eyes and said, "Jane, there are two things you need to know about me. Number one, I don't go on weight-loss diets. Number two, you don't know me well enough to put me on one, even if I did."

She and I became very close friends, and remained so until she died, several years ago. She never tried to suggest that I go on another diet, and we had many laughs when we'd tell people this story.  

Calendar Of Events

I'll be on WICH Radio (AM 1310), Norwich, CT, on Thursday, Dec.1, from 2:05 until 2:55 EST, and on KAHI (AM 950), in Auburn, CA, which is close to Sacramento, on Monday, Dec. 6, at 3:15 CST, for about 20 minutes.

KAHI has streaming audio (which can be heard over the Internet) at www.poppoff.com and www.KAHI.com. Tune in!

Book Contest

Register to win a free copy of the Pat Ballard book of your choice at Top 100 Women Sites: http://www.top100womensites.com/contest.htm.

Read previous issues of The Queen's Proclamation at http://www.pearlsong.com/newsletterarchives.htm.

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The Queen's Proclamation is published by Pearlsong Press, Inc.

P.O. Box 58065 │ Nashville, TN  37205  │ www.pearlsong.com

©2004 Pearlsong Press