Will You Follow Your Dream?

Yesterday, my husband I saw La La Land, the movie musical that earned many academy award nominations. Having been a huge fan of those Hollywood musicals of the '40's and '50's, I was eager to see this new offering. I also wanted to see it because my 18 year old granddaughter loved it so much that she's watched it 4 times, and I have a feeling there will be more viewings added. 

I remember being a young girl, sitting in a darkened theater watching the top stars of the time dancing and singing and falling in love and having hearts broken and working to follow a dream. This newest offering still used the Follow Your Dream theme along with the romance and the marvelous musical numbers. 

Isn't that we writers do, as well? We follow our dream of being a successful writer from the very first time we churn out a story, essay or poem. We have something in mind that we hope to achieve. Some of us think it will happen quickly while others know that to reach that star in the sky, we have a great deal of hard work before us. 

It's not always easy to keep our goal alive. No matter how much we want to make our dream come true, there will be roadblocks off and on. Get over one and find another in your way. You know what that spells? Discouragement! How easily we get discouraged plays a major role in achieving our dream.

We have two kinds of reactions when we are drenched with discouragement. We can either let it smother our dream or we can get even more determined. It's our choice as to which reaction we'll have. The depth of your desire will play a part. Letting discouragement push you down and keep you down might be tough to take but it also could be the easier route. The one that is more difficult is when you get angry and have an attitude of I'm not giving up but it's also the choice that will bring you more benefits in the long run. If you choose the second reaction, prepare for hard work ahead with plenty of new roadblocks. 

Have you ever watched a track meet where runners jump hurdles one after another? Think of that when you encounter one problem after another in your writing journey. Get over one and move on to the next. You must keep on going, not stop along the way, keep on going until you meet your goal. Even then, you're not done as you'll have to continue to meet snags here and there. 

The important thing, to me, is to have the dream and stay on the road as you pursue your writing goals.