You know how sometimes the biggest lessons don’t come from a movie… but from a three-year-old in a Strawberry Patch tank top?
Years ago, in a quiet little Midwestern neighborhood, I sat on our front porch watching my daughter play in the yard. It was one of those slow, golden evenings—shade from towering oak trees, warm brick streets, and the soft, hot hum of summer in Kansas.
We had been playing “I Spy.”
“Tree!”
“Ant!”
“Stick!”
…
“Lemon!”
I remember pausing.
Wait… what?
Lemon?
A few weeks earlier, I had walked that same sidewalk with her, carefully explaining where our yard ended. The “imaginary lines.” The safe zones. The places we weren’t supposed to go without holding hands.
Limits.
Or at least… that’s what I thought I was teaching.
But as I watched her that evening, I saw something completely different.
She walked right up to the edge of the sidewalk… stopped exactly where I had shown her… then stretched her tiny arm as far as it would go into the grass to grab a bright yellow dandelion.
And when her little hands were full, she ran back to me, beaming:
“Here, Mama… lemons!”
That’s when it hit me.
She never heard “limits.”
That word was not in her vocabulary.
She saw lemons.
In her world, lemons made LEMONADE!
Opportunity. Possibility. Something bright and worth reaching for.
And without ever crossing the line… she found a way to stretch beyond it.
In our publishing world, that’s our definition of B.R.A.V.E.
- B — Be Bold & Bodacious: She didn’t hesitate. She reached.
- R — Recognize Your Voice Matters: She trusted what she saw—even if it didn’t match my words.
- A — Amplify Your Authentic Truth: To her, they were lemons. And she owned that.
- V — Value Yourself and Your Worth: Those dandelions weren’t weeds—they were treasures.
- E — Elevate Your Message and Reach: She didn’t just pick one… she built a bouquet.
And here’s the part I think about now…
Somewhere along the way of Life, we stop seeing the thrill and potential of bright, colorful lemons… and start hearing and seeing limits.
We’re told to stay in our lane.
Wait for our turn.
Don’t say too much.
Don’t go too far.
Don’t go where you’ve not yet gone.
Especially when it comes to sharing our story… writing our book… stepping into something bigger. Many of us were taught not to talk about family matters… what goes on behind that front door.
We find ourselves standing right at the edge—just like she did.
But instead of reaching…
We hesitate.
We start to doubt that we need to prove to ourselves that we CAN.
WE CAN DO IT.
So, we’re making it easier to write your book and stay within your marketing budget.
B4: Your Perfectly-Sized, Bold, Bodacious, Business-Builder Book
The B4 Book is our “big impact in a smaller package” book and was created for those exact moments…
The moment before we reach.
The moment before the book.
BEFORE the doubt takes over.
BEFORE the “Who am I to do this?” voice gets louder than our truth.
Because maybe… just maybe…
It’s time to break through our limits.
And welcome the belief in a bright, colorful future for ourselves.
Where we make our own lemonade.
Are you ready to write that book you’ve been thinking about?
A smaller book at a lower price, like our B4 Book, offers a high-quality, budget-friendly approach to your marketing efforts. It accelerates the process of moving your prospect from merely a connection to a client.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE B4 BOOK HERE.
Schedule a call with Cathy HERE to get your questions answered.
She’d love to learn more about you and your book idea.