Dreaming Big

I am a big dreamer. I bet you are too. What are your dreams, hopes, desires for the future? Do you want to tell me?

Me, I have wanted to be a published author for a really long time. When I was in the ninth grade, my English teacher made us keep a journal. It was the first time I had ever written daily and I loved it. Suddenly, I could write freely, about anything. Keeping a journal helped me to understand the world around me. I wrote down on paper how I felt inside. This was amazing!

My English teachers at San Marcos High School noticed I had a raw talent for writing. They let me be as creative as I wanted to be for my assignments as long as I answered the questions concisely. If I had to do book report on Travels with Charlie, for example, I wrote in the voice of Charlie (the dog). Soon I was hooked. I LOVED to write. And I never stopped.

Even though I had many jobs, I kept writing and dreaming about one day having my books published. And now I can tell you that my dreams are coming true. Next year, I will see my first book published. YAY! It is a miracle. A gigantic dream come true.

How did I do it? Not alone, that I can assure you. I had a good support system of family, friends, teachers. I prayed a lot. Listened a lot. And wrote every day. I tried to learn from my mistakes and watched how other successful people reach their goals. No one is an overnight success. No one. Successful people set their minds to winning and don't quit until they do.

It sounds easy, right? It's not.

Really big dreamers will always encounter really big boulders blocking the path to success. Sometimes those boulders are inside us. You know, that little voice in our heads that say we can't do it? Sometimes the road blocks are good people who think they are doing us a favor, warning us how hard the road ahead is, how bumpy, how narrow. Very few people ever make it to publication, good folks warned me. To those people you must say, yes, but people do make it down this road. Who is to say that I am not one of those people? Life itself will throw its share of boulders at you. Unfortunately, you will have to climb over these, dig under, or find away to go around. But believe me when I say the effort to get past these boulders is worth it. They make you strong, build up your muscles and sharpen your mind. Not to mention how brave you will become. If you keep going you will one day reach the treasure at the end of the journey (or sometimes in the middle, for dreams can keep growing and getting better all the time). Trust me on this. You will never reach the treasure if you give up and go home.

Don't give up on your dreams. They are important. They make you YOU. Keep going, dig deep and grab your dreams with both hands. Then enjoy them for all you are worth.


What are you dreaming?