Stubborn as a Mule

I'm sure you've heard the saying "stubborn as a mule". Well, it generally fits me pretty well. Maybe it also applies to many of you.

My latest book, Gracie's Greatest Gift, explores the character trait of stubborness and looks at it from a different perspective.

We all know our personalities are a mixture of qualities, good and bad. However, I am of the opinion that our bad qualities can often be our greatest qualities, if properly applied.

Let's take for example, Gracie's tendency to be stubborn or headstrong. She sets her mind on what she wants and she goes after it. That's an admirable quality, right? Of course, it is. Life coaches tell us all the time you have to know what you want and aim towards it to be successful in life. You have to want a college degree or to be an Olympic athlete, or whatever.

So, being goal-directed is admirable. Some folks have this ability naturally - a gift, if you will. They tend to be visionaries, movers, shakers - in a word, successful. They stay on course, on mission and are unwaverable in their focus. Great! Right?

So, when someone digs in their heels and won't change direction, we label them stubborn, headstrong or willful. Don't we? Of course we do. But, isn't that persistence the quality we also admire in them? So is stubborness a gift?

I believe all our personality characteristics are gifts. Isn't everything we have a gift from God? I believe so. So, yes, being headstrong is a gift as long as it's headed in the right direction. We just don't tend to label it as so.

In my book, Gracie begins to learn that her gift of stubborness can get in the way of following God's path in her life. She has her plans, her desires and her heart is burning with the desire of achieving her goals. But, are her goals God's goals for her? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out.

Gracie's Greatest Gift is for intermediate level readers but may also be enjoyed by older "kids" as well. It contains a message children need to hear. God gives all gifts and sometimes our greatest gift isn't what we thought it was at all...

See you down the trail...