Blessons for Living
By Elena Neely
Children’s Book Author
The Dream
I am blessed to have found my purpose, and that is where the “Blessons for Living Series” comes in. It’s amazing how it came to be because initially, I had dreamt of a book called “Baby Blessons”. I found out that I was actually blessed by being a mom because not only did I have an opportunity to make an impact on a child’s life, but I also felt that I was learning more about myself. As this idea permeated in my spirit for about 15 years I finally told myself, “I’ve got to get around to writing this book while my daughter is still young.”
When it came down to actually getting ready to write the book I had to make sure that the trademark was available. I found that the word “Blessons” was already taken, so I thought about it over the course of a few weeks and thought to myself, “What am I really trying to say and get across? What are these lessons I’m getting and how is it blessing others?” I understood that there are lessons in living that must be shared and when that is done, it is a blessing. I am getting blessings and I have learned lessons throughout my life, but if we never share back what we’ve learned, we can’t be a blessing to someone else. It doesn’t even seem right to hold information because somewhere along the line, somebody helped you to get to where you are. Most of the time, people share these life lessons with children only when they feel that there is a need for that lesson. They wait until the child is older and or they exhibit unwanted behavior then they share lessons. I believe we should share early and often. Out of this reflection came the “Blessons for Living” book series.
Pouring Blessons into my Child
I was an older parent. My husband was 58 and I was 34 when we had my daughter. My daughter and I would read books all the time for many years, and she quickly learned to read for herself. We would read books that I thought were helpful to her. But I’d never actually had books like the ones that I am writing through the “Blessons for Living” series that talk about powerful life lessons that a parent can read to a child in a way that they would be entertained and could understand what would be shared. My late husband Tony and I never talked to her like she was a child. As we had conversations, we did not use 3-letter words or anything like that. We believe because of that, my daughter picked up information quickly and learned to read faster. She ended up skipping the sixth grade, and she graduated from Cornell University in three years. So all I’m saying is that reading to children is crucial. That is why I really wanted this series to be directed to children from birth through 12-years-old because, at some point, they can read it to themselves.
The Blessons for Living Series
The “Blessons for Living” series is neatly organized into three books. When I sat and thought about the most important lessons that you need to teach a child for this life that we live, I came up with 30 blessons. These were the most powerful lessons that can be shared to help children inspire greatness.
The first book, “Planting Seeds for Greatness” has some of the basic ten. If you only got this one book, you would see its value because it covers topics related to the power of your mind. Who thinks that you’re supposed to talk to a child at one-year-old about the power of their mind? When you start reading books like “Think and Grow Rich”, it reminds you of how powerful your mind is. So, to talk to a young child about the power of the mind. “Your mind is big and very bright. It’s making sure that things are right. Your mind is where the plans are made of what you’ll do and how you’ll behave. In the mind, you get to choose right from wrong, win or lose. In the mind is where we dream of places and things we’ve never seen.” Imagine a parent reading this to their child with enthusiasm and they’re planting these seeds of greatness, along with other topics that are crucial for growth and development.
Another one of the blessons in “Planting Seeds of Greatness” is learning. Imagine talking to a child about desiring to learn and grow and to be curious about the things they don’t know. Another blesson is “thinking time.” How many times do we get to just say, “Let me just sit down and think”? When a child is young, they assume that thinking time is a punishment. They are put in a corner for a time out. In all honesty, we should be taking time to think a lot more often because that’s when we’re able to think and refine our thoughts.
The second book, “The Best of Being”, I just fell in love with because there are so many ways to be. There are 24 hours in a day, and what we choose to do, and think end up making us who we are on any given day. Why not be grateful? Why not be helpful or kind? Just be happy. Be yourself. These are some of the “Be’s” that are in “The Best of Being”. “Being positive is right to make your future bright. It begins in the mind; the right choice you will find.” There’s even a jingle in the actual book, so children and parents have an opportunity to even sing a little song about what a blesson is. “A lesson is a lesson shared. It’s a blessing to care, and a blessing to share. Always remember and never forget, blessons flow to help you grow. Oh what a blesson it is.”
The purpose of “Blessons for Living” is two-fold. First, it is about the relationship between the parent and the child. If parents are not reading to their children on a regular basis, they are missing a beautiful opportunity to connect with their child and share beautiful information, whether it’s through “Blessons for Living” or whether it’s a story about a cat, or a teapot, or something else. It’s that time together with that connection that is so powerful. Secondly, we’ve got to get these lessons that we have learned into our children earlier. These are things that help them to be better citizens of the world, make better choices, and live better lives. When we start to change generations to come, we get a chance to become better and achieve better. Everybody has a beautiful purpose.
Walking in My Purpose
Is there a time or a place when I knew this was my purpose? I would say that it was when “Blessons” by itself wasn’t available and I had to really think about the impact of the concept of sharing our life lessons with younger audiences. “Blessons for Living was born.”
Even having the idea. Even knowing what you need to do. Even knowing your purpose. At some point, you have to execute. You have to take the steps in order to make things happen. So, the biggest thing that always was on my mind was being able to find a publisher. At some point, I told myself that I’m going to make it happen. It was after my daughter left for college that I said, “I have no more excuses.” I have to put forth the effort to get this done, and I have to do it right away, so I decided to pray about it. I was not going to worry about what I needed for it. If this was truly my purpose, it would come to me, so I started writing.
I knew I needed accountability. A friend of mine, non-coincidentally had just started a life coaching company, and we agreed to work together. Every two weeks, we met to talk about where I was at that moment, where I wanted to go, and what targets need to be achieved. This has been a key to our success. Despite major life challenges, nothing has stopped us from meeting every two weeks. This has been going on for almost two years now, and in that time, I have pushed out two books, started a publishing company, and grew in my purpose.
The biggest roadblock to my continued success was getting a publisher. The cost of royalties was not attractive but it got me started on my first book. One day, I woke up and told myself, “I can be my own Publisher.” I created Blessons for Living LLC, which is the publishing company for all future books. This company is not going to stop at the “Blessons for Living” Series, although that is the foundation of the journey of this organization that we have created. I can foresee other children’s books that are a blessing intended to create opportunities for parents to connect with their children. It will create opportunities for aspiring children and young adults to be their best and live a life of greatness.
I’m not holding back. I am moving forward. I have already written the third book in the “Blessons for Living” series. My illustrator has already begun illustrating. It is an amazing journey to be on. As soon as children are born into the world they need self-help too. Self-help is not just for grownups. Self-help begins from the day that you are born. You can be helpful, kind, and positive. You can be your best. You can love yourself. You can be yourself. These are all blessons that are shared in the series and I’m very happy that God chose me to lead this effort.