So, I wrote an email. Because I can type quickly, my fingers were ablaze with the tongue lashing I wanted to deliver. I was offering free advice on process improvement and pointing out one deficiency after another. Then I stopped to think (eureka!). Everyone I have ever talked to at the publishing company has been courteous—particularly my publishing consultant. I imagined what it must be like to be in their shoes—dealing with hundreds of would-be authors who’ve mastered the art of self importance long before any best seller listing; trying to keep thousands of projects on target each day; being held accountable for outcomes of a process that involves people like me, who really don’t know what we’re doing…

It helps sometimes to remember the human essence in our interactions. Even if we can’t always understand why people do what they do, we can remember that they feel justified for their behavior. They have a story. My needs and my story don’t trump theirs.

So, I hit the miracle button of modern communication. The delete key. While I still made my concerns known, I took out all the unnecessary whining and tried to imagine how they’d feel by the end of my message. And this was the email I received in reply this morning.

You know, the book process doesn’t really matter all that much. The lesson I learned will last much longer—or at least until the next time I find myself in a snit and have to learn it all over again. For now, I will try to keep it “at the front of my day.”

Let all that you do be done in love. All that you do. Not just the things you do for those you love. Instead, let love be the force that guides every interaction and let it pour into the foundation of every relationship. Then we’ll get somewhere my friends. Then we will grow good things indeed…and we’ll have fun doing it!