This week is a bit of a whirlwind week for me. In addition to starting my eleventh year of teaching, my debut novel, Forever Hollow, is releasing on all platforms. I started writing, really writing, when I was 22. It’s been 12 years, and I’m finally seeing the results of my work and accomplishing one of the greatest goals I’ve ever set out to do.

And I’m absolutely terrified.

Here’s what you have to understand: I’m an introverted person. I don’t like putting myself out there for everyone to see. And now that this is out there, every single possible doubt is rearing it’s ugly head.

What if it’s not really good? What if I missed a mistake? What if nobody buys it? What if people buy it but hate it? Will I get a second chance with them on another novel? What if something happens to the ebook format and everything looks bad and people buy it but can’t read it and want their money back? You get the idea.

My friends and I used to go cliff jumping in college. It was quite the rush, but one particular day stands out. It was probably the highest cliff we’d been to. I don’t remember how high, it felt like a hundred feet but it was probably more like 30 or something. Anyway, the bottom of the cliff was about a foot further out from the top, so you had to make sure you jump out and not just down. I remember standing at the top and looking down a long way. In that moment, fear had me in its clutches. It was a pretty terrifying experience.

Fear is a tough thing to overcome, especially when it’s something very personal. I put a lot of time and effort into my writing. Literally, years of my life have gone into publishing this book. I started writing it in November of 2012. Many early mornings, coffee shop visits, and frustrating moments of staring at a blinking cursor not moving on the screen. And here I am, and I don’t want it to be for nothing.

It reminds me of Moses, who was called out by God to do incredible things, yet he came up with excuse after excuse as to why he shouldn’t do it. He was afraid that he would fail. And God promised him one simple thing: I will be with you.

There’s a saying, and I’m sure you’ve heard some kind of variation of it: Bravery isn’t the absence of fear, it’s being afraid but doing what you have to do anyway. That speaks a lot to me at this moment.

Remember that terrifying cliff? I was frightened, but I jumped off it. Outside of having enough time on the way down to think that I should have already hit the water, it was an incredible experience. It’s something I will remember for the rest of my life. And if I had let my fear control me, I never would have experienced it.

So what do I do now? I keep going.

I’ll do my best to market and advertise and get the word out (hopefully relying on all of you to help me), but I’ll also move forward. I have two big fiction series in the works as well as an idea for a discipleship kind of book. Even though he’s talking about spiritual develop, Paul’s words in Philippians 3:13,14 still ring true. “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

I may very well fail. My book may flop. It may get terrible reviews. If it does, I’ll leave it behind and keep moving forward. If it succeeds, I still leave it behind and continue forward.

And you can do the same.

Jump off that cliff.