God Never Blinks: Lesson 21
WHEN IT COMES TO GOING AFTER WHAT YOU LOVE IN LIFE, DON'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER.
Quotable Quotes: "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." (Winston Churchill)
I racked my brain for examples in my life in which I was told "no" but forged ahead anyway and chased after my dreams. I couldn't think of one. Is it because I had such supporting people in my life who encouraged me and made me feel invincible? Or is it because I was smart enough to know my limits and never went after anything I knew I would probably fail at? Maybe it was a little of both, but mostly I think it was just that I just didn't have any "impossible" dreams to begin with.
I remember being 10 years old and wanting to be a policewoman and live on a horse ranch when I grew up. Both of those dreams died a quick death: the police part because I could never even look at a gun without freaking out, the horse ranch part because I knew I would never be rich enough to hire someone else to shovel the manure.
I remember being 11 years old and listening to Barbara Mandrell cassette tapes in my room. I wanted to be a country music singer. At 14 I wanted to be Amy Grant. But since my family wasn't packing up and moving to Nashville anytime soon, it was purely the stuff of fantasies.
When I graduated high school, many of my friends knew what career path they wanted to follow. I just had a vague idea that I might like to be a children's welfare worker. One semester into my freshman year at college, I had kicked that dream to the curb after hearing a social worker's speech on how a job like that would drain the life out of you unless you were extremely thick-skinned. I wasn't.
I switched my major to English, because, well, I liked to read and I liked to write. I figured I would do something along the lines of newspaper reporting when I graduated. Although it probably would have been the more mundane task of editing, since I really hated the interviewing part of my journalism class. I mean....I had to talk to people I didn't know. What's up with that?
Towards the end of my college career, I developed an interest in the mind, and took all the Psychology classes I could. I fell a couple of classes short of getting an AA in Psychology. I've always wondered what my life might have become if I had spent all four years pursuing this interest.
And then I got married. Two weeks after I graduated college. And somehow any minor dreams I had career-wise were replaced by the dream of raising a family. I knew from the start that I wanted to stay home with my children, so I figured there was no use in starting a career in journalism that I would only have to give up in a few years anyway. So I got a job as a church secretary for three years. Then I had a baby. Then I had three more. And here I am. A woman without any dreams other than a clean house and happy, God-fearing children.
But over the last few years I've begun to feel the yearning to put words to paper. To cultivate the gift that my college professors assured me I had and encouraged me to do something with. To create something of lasting value that will inspire or entertain or enlighten others through the written word. To one day pick up a book with my name on the spine. Writing is the one thing outside of my family and my faith that has always brought me joy and a sense of accomplishment.
So this then....writing.....is my dream. And it is undeniable that if I pursue it, there will be many, many times that I will have to "not take no for an answer." There will be times my confidence is shaken, my feelings are hurt, and my motivation is tested. But this is life. This is LIVING. Taking chances and chasing dreams and trying to be more than you dare believe you can be.
I just finished reading a book about Laura Ingalls Wilder. She was in her sixties when she began writing her "Little House" books. I hear they did pretty well.
WHEN IT COMES TO GOING AFTER WHAT YOU LOVE IN LIFE, DON'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER.
Quotable Quotes: "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." (Winston Churchill)
I racked my brain for examples in my life in which I was told "no" but forged ahead anyway and chased after my dreams. I couldn't think of one. Is it because I had such supporting people in my life who encouraged me and made me feel invincible? Or is it because I was smart enough to know my limits and never went after anything I knew I would probably fail at? Maybe it was a little of both, but mostly I think it was just that I just didn't have any "impossible" dreams to begin with.
I remember being 10 years old and wanting to be a policewoman and live on a horse ranch when I grew up. Both of those dreams died a quick death: the police part because I could never even look at a gun without freaking out, the horse ranch part because I knew I would never be rich enough to hire someone else to shovel the manure.
I remember being 11 years old and listening to Barbara Mandrell cassette tapes in my room. I wanted to be a country music singer. At 14 I wanted to be Amy Grant. But since my family wasn't packing up and moving to Nashville anytime soon, it was purely the stuff of fantasies.
When I graduated high school, many of my friends knew what career path they wanted to follow. I just had a vague idea that I might like to be a children's welfare worker. One semester into my freshman year at college, I had kicked that dream to the curb after hearing a social worker's speech on how a job like that would drain the life out of you unless you were extremely thick-skinned. I wasn't.
I switched my major to English, because, well, I liked to read and I liked to write. I figured I would do something along the lines of newspaper reporting when I graduated. Although it probably would have been the more mundane task of editing, since I really hated the interviewing part of my journalism class. I mean....I had to talk to people I didn't know. What's up with that?
Towards the end of my college career, I developed an interest in the mind, and took all the Psychology classes I could. I fell a couple of classes short of getting an AA in Psychology. I've always wondered what my life might have become if I had spent all four years pursuing this interest.
And then I got married. Two weeks after I graduated college. And somehow any minor dreams I had career-wise were replaced by the dream of raising a family. I knew from the start that I wanted to stay home with my children, so I figured there was no use in starting a career in journalism that I would only have to give up in a few years anyway. So I got a job as a church secretary for three years. Then I had a baby. Then I had three more. And here I am. A woman without any dreams other than a clean house and happy, God-fearing children.
But over the last few years I've begun to feel the yearning to put words to paper. To cultivate the gift that my college professors assured me I had and encouraged me to do something with. To create something of lasting value that will inspire or entertain or enlighten others through the written word. To one day pick up a book with my name on the spine. Writing is the one thing outside of my family and my faith that has always brought me joy and a sense of accomplishment.
So this then....writing.....is my dream. And it is undeniable that if I pursue it, there will be many, many times that I will have to "not take no for an answer." There will be times my confidence is shaken, my feelings are hurt, and my motivation is tested. But this is life. This is LIVING. Taking chances and chasing dreams and trying to be more than you dare believe you can be.
I just finished reading a book about Laura Ingalls Wilder. She was in her sixties when she began writing her "Little House" books. I hear they did pretty well.
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