What Losing Sixteen 5-Star Reviews Feels Like. How to Turn a Negative Into a POSITIVE!

 

Losing so many reviews made me sad. And bloody angry!

 

at first…

 

Can you blame me? Never in my wildest imagination would I have believed that one of my retailers would have allowed such a thing to happen. But it did. Can I explain it? Not to this day. Who is that retailer? I’ll never say.

 

Regardless, it happened.

I lost sixteen 5 star reviews from nine titles between October 18th and October 28th.

Lord, was I depressed. It wasn’t fair. At least not in my book. Funny thing, after a few days of hanging my head and feeling sorry for myself, something occurred to me…

Is that all I have to be depressed about?

Seriously?

Here I was all bummed because I’d lost a few reviews. Aye, perhaps a wee bit more than a few but still. In what I thought my ‘darkest hour’ I was mourning the loss of a few stars and words when so many would do anything to be in my shoes.

What do I mean?

Consider this. Though I worked hard to write those stories that lost the reviews, I did it in a warm house with electricity and with a full belly. Not bad, eh? My plight was becoming far less daunting by the minute.

Then it occurred to me that I wrote these stories while my son played happily downstairs with more toys than he really needed. My husband was watching a ‘just released’ movie on cable TV. My dog was eating wet AND dry dog food and slurping up fresh water.

Those sixteen lost five star reviews were meaning less and less.

By the time I got back from my vacation I was downright disgusted with myself.

Shame on me!

Yes, reviews can make or break me but you know what? I’ll find a way. I’ll bounce back. But what about all of those families in my town, country, in other countries, who might not find a way to survive?

That became the MUCH bigger picture.

In the past week I’ve been on a crusade to find ways to help those in need. I’ve bought pre-made meals at my grocery store to help local families, participated in my son’s school's Thanksgiving food drive and volunteered to help at my local Soup Kitchen this holiday.

This is just the beginning of what I intend to do.

The moral of my story? Thank God I lost sixteen 5-Star reviews!

What a world of difference they’ve already made.

Have you lost something lately that you realize might not be as terrible as you thought? If so, consider turning your attention to those who could use your help. Google your town + help + food drive. You might be amazed!

Stay tuned. I'll be posting more about ways you can help with tons of links.

God Bless,
Sky