Are You Ready To Fight For Your Dreams?
It’s Now or Never
“The mean Patrol Boy cuts you down to size eventually, and if you start out small, why, there’s almost nothing left but the cuffs of your pants when he’s done with you.” -Stephen King, The Gunslinger
We all have big dreams and big goals, but sometimes we have to do things we don’t like to do to get to the places we want to be.
Although I’m a full-time writer, on some days I get up and don’t feel like writing.
I know that if I don’t force myself to write, nobody else will. But I’m not going to let myself stand in the way of my creative dreams, so I sit down and create anyways.
On some days I don’t create a lot and I’m stuck in the consumption phase. On other days I’m a creative machine. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it other than showing up to the table, preparing to bare it all to my readers, and just write.
I don’t why or how I feel the way I do sometimes. Yet I’m acutely aware of the fact that while I can’t dictate the way I feel at any given time, I can choose what to focus on to not allow my feelings to dictate the actions I wish to take to improve my life.
Every day is a constant battle. It’s not all glitter and gold sometimes. Life is unpredictable, and it’s how I choose to act on my hardest, most difficult days where my forward progress is defined the most. The same goes for you.
Following Your Dreams Isn’t a Happy, Motivating, Sunshiny Rainbow Path All the Time
There’s a growing belief I see online which I wish to challenge with my work. And that’s the fact that if you pursue the work you love, then you’ll never work a day in your life.
Look, I’m very aware of how wrong this is. A couple months ago, I quit my job to pursue the work of my dreams, and I still have to treat each day like it’s work or nothing will get done. Because if I don’t treat my writing like a job, on most days I won’t do the immense amounts of work and time and blood and sweat and tears that it will take to see my dream to reality.
And that’s okay.
Even though I want to write and continue writing for a living and I have all the time in the world to do so now, I still have to chip away at it little by little every single day.
And that’s okay.
I have to be persistent, audacious, tenacious. I have to work harder than I’ve ever worked before to do this thing I want to do more than anything else.
I have to step into the unknown, secretly praying that it’ll all work out in the end.
Being a hard-working, persistent, and passionate person is something I choose to be. Being a person that’s focused on my forward progress and my goals is something I get to be now, and it’s a decision I make out of both choice and necessity.
I know that now. Yet learning it came the hard way, and it was knowledge born out of immense struggle and hardship I would rather have avoided the easy way, if there ever was one.
How Far Are You Willing to Go?
There’s no such thing as the path of least resistance when it comes to chasing after your biggest dreams.
Every single day is a struggle, so I have to constantly be better — because with one single shift in my mind, I could go from persisting to quitting. I could go from a winning mindset a losing mindset. And I could just as easily move on and give in to the struggles and the hardship and the adversities and let it all succumb and overtake me.
But I don’t. Because that’s the life I choose to live. That’s the person I need to be. That’s a choice that I had to make, to see this life and my mission to inspire other writers and creatives through to the very end.
Sure, on some days I’m inching and crawling forward towards my goals and dreams, but I’m usually motivated to achieve them when I remember why I started down this path in the first place.
Although I could give in to my doubts forever in the flick of a switch, I won’t do it. I won’t allow my failings to pull me down and take my life away. Because while writing may get hard, I know I have something real here, something to live for and persist towards.
And that’s okay.
No, screw that.
It’s great.
How Will You Choose to Live Your Life?
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” -Alice Walker
You can’t wait to chase after your dreams. No, you have to go after them with an iron fist if you want to see them come true in your lifetime.
You have to be determined and selfish to see your dreams to reality. In doing so, you give them a chance to blossom and grow.
Life is meant to be lived, rather than adored from afar. And you’re here to take what’s yours and never give in to the patrol boy coming after your dreams.
Because he’s waiting for you, right around the corner. Even though you may not see him, he’s there, lurking around the corner.
If you let him, he’ll steal it all away from you piece by little piece, until there’s nothing left but the taste of ashes in your mouth.
And that’s not okay.
Not to me.
The truth is that we commonly give up our power by believing we don’t have any and that we couldn’t possibly make the impact we want to on the world around us as the person we are. In the end, we give in to that belief and quit because we’re not worthy of the greatness we know we’re capable of.
But if you want to live your greatest life, you’ve got to make a choice. You’ve got to lay your stake in your claim. You’ve got to pick your battles and throw the right punches when you need to.
The good thing is, following your dreams is a lot easier than you might think. You just have to define what your dream looks like to you, and then go after it with an iron fist and not stop too long for anything that comes along your way.
The clock is ticking. Yet it’s never too late to do what’s right and follow your heart with all your might. You owe it to yourself to do that, at least.
So go. Show that mean patrol boy what you’ve got. And don’t stop for anyone or anything, lest they hold you up for good.
Call to Action
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