Are you Brave Enough to Pursue Your Idea/Dream?

I've been debating about writing this post for quite some time now, and decided that if I share what I've been working on with all of you, I will now be held more accountable to follow through with it. But before I get into what I have debated about sharing, let me ask you something...is there something you have always wanted to do/learn/be, that you talk yourself out of day after day, year after year? What is it? Why do you do keep yourself from doing/learning/being it?

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I'd like to venture and guess that you all have something that rattles around in the back of your mind every now and then, that says, "It's time! Pay attention to me! You know you want to!" But as soon as you give that thought your energy, new predator-like thoughts invade that say, "It's not time. You're too busy," or "You have more important things to do," or "Who do you think you are?" And if you're like me, you let those thoughts push back the thoughts that fill you with excitement and hope.

Why do we do it? Maybe it is because we look around and see so many amazingly talented people that we know could do a better job than we can? Maybe we look around and people have already done it? Maybe it is because we are constantly reminded of our limitations, and focus on those rather than our strengths? Well we need to stop. There is always room for that something that keeps nagging you, begging you, pleading for you to pay attention to it. There is a reason there is that something there in the first place, and it needs your attention and action.

Courtesy of Pinterest with no source

First, A Story

I want to share a story that happened a couple weeks ago with my oldest son. My two boys have been skiing for a couple seasons and have gotten pretty good. However, my oldest this year kept asking if he could try snowboarding. I grew up snowboarding, or should I say, trying to snowboard. It is brutally tough. I tried skiing this past year and fell only once the whole day...so much easier (and less painful). When my son asked to try the new sport, my husband and I tried to talk him out of it. We didn't want him to have a frustrating day on the slopes when he could have a fun time instead. But he kept asking, and we eventually said, "Ok, only if you realize it is hard and we don't want to hear you complaining the whole day." I am so glad he was brave and decided to do it. He got out there and kept on trying. He didn't complain. He was a little scared, but he was brave, and he pushed through it. And he was good. He was a natural.

My oldest is the one pictured on the right, happily holding his snowboard

I bring this story up, because I believe we have these inner desires that burn within us, encouraging us to give them energy and attention. When we do, we find that we have a natural ability to do them. I am not saying we are immediate experts, or are even talented right away. But if we work on these desires, and recognize that we will still have to work, try, mess up, and continue to believe in ourselves, we will have happiness and joy along the journey, and will most likely end up thriving.

So Just Do It, right?

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I love this quote, it makes the decision seem so much easier. But we all know it isn't. However, maybe it actually is? If we decide to worry more about what we think vs. what other's think, then it makes it harder not to do something that we want to. In answer to all of those questions I wrote above, maybe we need to tell ourselves this...

There is only one you, and there is only one me. Even though we are similar to one another, we each have a unique makeup that keeps us from competing. So I'm gonna say it, I'm gonna say what I have been too embarrassed to say all along---I'm working on writing a children's book. There I said it.

Many of you know that I tried this awhile back. In fact I wrote a post on here about it, but then time passed and I was embarrassed about it and deleted the post. I wrote a story that I thoroughly believed in and submitted it to a few publishers that were open to new writers. I never heard back from any of them. People kept telling me that Dr. Seuss, and J.K. Rowling had to go through tons of rejections to get a chance, and that I should keep on trying. But I learned that my first story, even my second story, and many others since, weren't good enough to keep pursuing. I put their ideas on the back burner, and gave the new ideas that were fighting for my attention, some energy. I have been studying book after children's book. Typing out their words so I can see how simply they're written without the illustrations. I am studying writing books. I am joining writing groups. I am letting other writers critique my work, and I am critiquing theirs. I have days where the sky is the limit, and days where I ask myself if I am an idiot for trying to enter a very competitive market that is next to impossible to get into. And even though children's writers make next to nothing, it has always been a desire of mine, and it is so much fun. I finally have found an outlet for the constant barrage of ideas that flood my mind on a daily basis. I love reading books to my children, and now I am thoroughly enjoying the art of writing them too.

Who knows if anything will ever come of it. All I know is that this idea in my brain has been rattling around in there a long time, and it isn't going away. When I give it my attention, it gets excited and it grows. There are days when the ideas dry up, or seem mad at me, but I have to keep telling myself to try. This is normal.

I also thoroughly believe that "where there is a will there is a way," and that hard work and honest introspection pay off..

I write all of this to hold myself accountable to you, and to myself. I know that tomorrow I will most likely feel discouraged and dumb, and feel tempted to call this a wasteful effort. But no effort is wasted if it brings us joy and growth. Creating in all of it's many forms brings happiness, fulfillment, and knowledge about ourselves, and all of those things are worth it.

Now be honest with yourself, and let those ideas that have been begging for your attention to free themselves! Believe in yourself! Be fierce!

Happy Creating!