Anna Lind Thomas and I’m Not Ready for This (Part 1)

John Farrell: Could you tell me a little about your book, I’m Not Ready for This?

Anna Lind Thomas: I’m Not Ready for This is a book about my life and all of the things I’m not ready for. When I was thinking about coming up with my next book, because I had just come out with We’ll Laugh About This Someday, I was thinking about what I wanted to write for book two. I realized how in most phases of my life I’m not ready. I know that is so relatable. Most of us aren’t really ready for anything, from the small to the big.

I wanted to call the book I’m Not Ready to Go Sleeveless, but my editor was like, “Let’s make it a little bit more general.” But I’m not ready to go sleeveless. I’m not ready for summer. Whenever it gets hot outside, I’m not ready. I’m like, “You know what? I had since January 1st to get my act together, because I knew I was going to be wearing tank tops, and now look. I’m not ready. I need two more weeks.”

I feel like all of us have that feeling where we just need a little bit more time and we never get it. There’s a decision that we can make when that happens to us. We can either go back to our comfort zones so we resist the fact that we’re not ready and put it off and do nothing about it or we can allow ourselves to be pushed.

I have found in my life that God really pushes me into each season of my life. There are times where I’m kicking and screaming and I’m not ready, but it has always been to my benefit to just step forward and go for it. So, through a lot of self-deprecating humor and stories of my life that’s the underlying theme: I’m not ready for this, but I’m going to go for it anyway. And either two things are going to happen. One is there’s going to be victory or success in some way and I’m going to grow and there’s going to be some character building or I’m going to have an amazing story to tell that’s either going to encourage someone or make them laugh. In my opinion, it’s a win-win.

JF: I was talking to someone a couple of months ago and they had a cool quote that applies to this situation: “Every situation is win-learn because if I don’t win, I always learn. I never lose.” That’s very poignant in this situation, too.

Anna: That’s exactly right. You win, you learn, you’ve got an amazing story to tell.

As a writer, as I started to write books in earnest, I began to look at the world differently. I see my life, and the circumstances that surround my life, as a story to tell. I know as a writer, I have an advantage because if I were to do another one of my talks or speeches and I totally bomb, I’m like, “Ooh, this could make a really good chapter.”

A lot of us don’t have that outlet where we could have that instant, positive spin. But for me, it’s true. I began to realize that every obstacle in my life, every difficult hardship, every disappointment, every bout of being low or kind of depressed, or whatever is a story to tell. And those stories are some of the best things that I can share in terms of encouraging other people and giving people that hope.

When I look at life as these wonderful stories to tell, it’s easier for me to pick myself back up, to not take things so seriously, and to realize that this is life, and this is the season I’m in. Some of the juiciest stories I can share with people, the things that I can share to uplift them or to make them laugh, are in these most difficult seasons. When things are good, it’s a little boring.

Life can be hard but when we can see someone else going through a hardship and making it, we not only don’t feel so alone, but we feel like we can make it too. It gives us hope.

Another thing is making fun of it to me is so freeing. I’ve been through a rough patch lately and one of the people I love to call is my mom. She has an amazing sense of humor. I love talking to her and making jokes about the difficulty I’m going through. It is so healing to be able to laugh at yourself and to laugh at something like, “Well, I haven’t taken a shower in three days.” There’s something about laughter that gives us hope.

I’ve discovered that through my books, when people have written to me and said, “I laughed so hard that I cried and almost peed my pants. It came at such a perfect time because …” and they don’t necessarily articulate this, but what that laughter did for them was it gave them hope. If you can laugh like that you start to think, “Okay, I can face this. Tomorrow’s another day.”

That’s what I love to do with my writing, and I think that’s the way God uses me—to give people hope through laughter and by being able to lighten up and kind of make fun of ourselves a little bit about how ridiculous we are and get on with it.

JF: Can you recall a time when the essence of “I’m not ready for this” played its biggest part in your life? Was it more success or just a humorous story that came out of that moment?

Anna: It’s really hard for me to pick one because I think they’re all huge. Being ready for pregnancy. Pregnancy is such a beast. Marriage, relationships, every season has been difficult.

I did get cast on a TV show, and I can’t give any specifics until the show runs. It was a pretty big deal. I flew down to LA and there were A-list celebrities. I needed to go on stage and I’m getting interviewed by people that I can’t believe I’m sitting in front of.

It got sprung on me in a way that I knew it was coming, but you’re just never quite ready for that. I mean, here’s this huge opportunity and I had to quarantine for two days before I even went on. So, I’m just sitting there with my thoughts for two days in a hotel room before I even get booked.

For me, it was just, “Okay, God, I need your help because I’m not equipped for this. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m going to be so nervous. How am I even going to get through this?” And I found, through that experience, that God was with me through the people that were around me and they weren’t even believers—I don’t know. Even the driver.

I had an elderly driver. The first guys who drove me around were like FBI agents. They had the black glasses, the suits, and they barely talked to me. Then I got this older man who picked me up. I don’t know if he meant it, but he was complimenting me, chatting with me, and when I got out of the car, he opened the window and was like, “Knock ‘em dead kid. I know you will.”

I remember having this feeling of, “Okay, I can do this.” And then walking through, the stylist who was working with me would come in during pauses when they would take a break or a commercial break and they’d all reset. The stylist would come up, adjust my jacket, and whisper to me what an incredible job I was doing. She’s like, “I was laughing so hard that I had to leave the room. You’re doing amazing.” Then the makeup artist came in to touch up my lipstick and she gave me words of encouragement.

Sometimes we are so afraid we forget to ask God for help. That is when you have to step out in faith, trust that God is going to give you the things you need to get through it and to do well, whether it’s through people or circumstances. Just allow God to comfort you and take care of you while you step out into these scary situations where you don’t know what you’re doing. I think the reality is that none of us really know what we’re doing. We have this feeling that everybody has a clue, and they don’t. So, relying on our faith and stepping up and being like, “I’m going to be okay. And even if this doesn’t go the way I want it to go, just like we talked about, this is going to be an incredible learning experience or hilarious story, or it’s used in some way to help somebody else. So, let’s go for it and see what happens.”

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Order your copy of I’m Not Ready for This: Everybody Just Calm Down and Give Me a Minute by Anna Lind Thomas