I know. Scads of naysayers — even those closest to you — say you’re foolish to think of becoming a writer. You resist the urge to tell them that they are shouting in incomplete sentences while sitting on well-worn couches as life passes them by.
You step out in faith and fear and buy a brand new laptop, complete with writing software. Your family and friends roll their eyes as you tell them your plans for writing that prize-winning novel. You fire up the computer, crack your knuckles and wait for all those plot twists and irresistible romances to dance in your creative mind.
Instead, Uncle Henry’s gruff voice finds its way to the forefront of your mind and tells you writing is for retired college professors, not you. Memories of laughing coworkers come alive like comic book character pop-ups. And of course there’s the cursor on your blank computer screen, taunting and threatening to expose your literary shortcomings to the world.
With all that shouting in your face, it would be easy — even understandable — to throw in the towel and go back to baking brownies or tinkering in the garage. It doesn’t make sense to you anymore that you even thought you would ever be a writer. So why put yourself through all this anguish?
Because your dream is too important to remain unlived!
Here’s a secret: Not one single person on the face of the planet who lived their dream ever did it without adversity. Or ridicule and scorn. Not one! If anyone says they did, run away from them as quickly as you can because they are not being honest.
It takes courage for anyone to move forward when everyone is telling them they should stay put. But those who shout the loudest are protesting from the neighborhood of non-fulfillment, the county of non-contribution and the state of never-living-their-dream.
You were meant to write. You may get to the end of your manuscript and be disappointed at how it turned out. Good thing that’s fixable with edits and rewrites. But there is no cure for getting to the end of your life and facing the disappointment of having no more days left and realizing you did not live your dream.
However heavy your foot may be, find a way to put it in front of the other, then the other. However cumbersome it is, no matter what ridicule you receive, live your dream! It’s who you were meant to be. It’s the mark you were meant to leave on this world. Let that truth give you the courage to write. To face down that cursor on the blank computer screen. To boldly go where no Doubting Thomas has ever gone before!
~*~
Reba J. Hoffman is a natural encourager whose works appear in publications such as Running for the Women’s Soul by Road Runner Sports and The Good Fight by Donna Hicken. Her latest book, The First 20 Days, The Roadmap to Your Success, debuted in 2009. She holds a Ph.D in Clinical Counseling and is the founder and president of New Hope Institute of Counseling. She uses her experience with people to write romantic suspense.
