By Eilis Flynn

At long last, it’s happened! Dancing up and down with joy, startling the kids and the cats (not to mention the neighbors and the meter man), you can’t stop rejoicing: YOU GOT THE CALL! FINALLY, FINALLY, YOU GOT THE CALL! Then you stop dancing. Is it . . . rude to be so happy? But how could you NOT? Will others not yet blessed with The Call think you’re the most obnoxious creature alive? Exulting with happiness is a normal reaction, any worthwhile counselor can tell you, but it’s also a normal reaction to feel guilty about your success. So what can you do? You can check out a few of these websites, that’s what.

In  using academic success as a metaphor for The Sale, here’s an interesting blog to peruse, “31 Flavors of Guilt”:

http://infavorofthinking.blogspot.com/2005/04/31-flavors-of-guilt.html

What if you don’t even realize that you’re suffering from guilt and the fear of success? Understand what you’re doing to yourself and what to do about it.

http://www.columbiapsych.com/miller_fear_sucess.html

There are various types of guilt that can pop up in relation to your career, ranging from feeling guilty because you think you’re being selfish, putting your own needs first, all the way to “I’m-not-good-enough” guilt. Guilt can interfere with your career goals if you’re not careful, so here’s how to manage your guilt so you can continue to be productive:

http://wlb.monster.com/articles/wlbguilt/

Guilt of this kind can also be viewed as fear of success – what if you get and do everything you want to, and you’re still not happy? Understand it, deal with it, and the steps toward achieving your emotional goal:

http://www.coping.org/growth/success.htm

And finally, because it is the new year, here are “10 new attitudes for recreating your life this year.” Geared toward women but good for men too, mostly with a financial bent (it starts off with “a man is not a financial plan” – unless, of course, the man is the Hero of your latest work and he helps you in writing the best romance you’ve ever written), this list is a great way to start off a year of nonparalleled success. Good luck!

http://www.womenof.com/Articles/mm_1_12_04.asp

Copyright 2006 Eilis Flynn