Dreams

Something not everyone tells you but should, is that dreams require building a mental strength when not everyone is supportive or indifferent...

Dreams

A famous quote by Walt Disney says, All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue . Dreams begin with a wish, a vision of the future, a passion. But dreams continue with hard work, risk taking, learning & a belief in a higher power. What many don’t tell you is, for the dream to be successful and to come true, requires developing mental strength.

How it all began

It was a gray damp fall afternoon sometime in September 2019. I happened to be scrolling on Instagram when I came across a 5-day free course about blogging. I signed up for it figuring I had nothing to lose, and it felt to me as though God was nudging me to do it. It was then that I realized that I was more passionate about talking about books & eventually interviewing authors and those in the industry, than I was about writing my own stories. (Who knows? A story could come that I’m so passionate about that I go beyond a short story or a few pages.) In the early years of the blog, I took notes that I felt were helpful from other blogging videos. Some advice that might work for some will not work for others. You learn as you go along & that’s certainly what I did.

Words & What They Do

The famous saying goes, Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. It is true, physically, words cannot hurt you. Make no mistake, words can be used to uplift, or harm depending on how the words are wielded whether with intent or carelessly. When you hear the negative talk, make no mistake, it hurts. You don’t feel the support you know you should get. Even if some of the negative words come from a well-meaning place, it still hurts. The important question is, Okay, this person/these people don’t support or care, what now? What now? Now what to do is keep on pursuing your dream. Whether that is starting your own blog, writing a story that you want the world to read, doing a sport, singing, teaching, coaching etc. If you want that dream bad enough keep going.

How to develop that mental strength & carry on

Words still hurt. Knowing that the people who you thought would support you or understand you do the exact opposite, also hurt. Knowing others are indifferent is a choice. If you want it bad enough, you keep on going despite what they say. It’s tough, but eventually those negative words won’t cause as much if any more damage than it did before. It also helps if you don’t bring up your dreams to unsupportive and indifferent people, and if they do ask, keep it short. Keep your supportive family and friends close; they are worth more than gold.

Make new friends who are more successful than you. You will find successful people no matter what they do, give you wisdom and knowledge to succeed but most importantly, they will give you more encouragement than those who’ve never tried at all. You need to listen to them more than those who don’t know or who don’t try. I found many new friends whether they were authors or others in the publishing industry who have been very supportive of my blog. It’s too big of a list to name everyone, but I thank all of you!