Don't Give Up On Your Dreams

Do you have a dream that compels you so strongly you wonder if you have the option not to pursue it?                                

                                      That's how I feel about writing.

I began writing when I was six. I was compelled.

I wrote a poem with some first grade friends, and that's when I decided to be a writer...and an Egyptologist and marine biologist, (until I realized I was terrified of fish).

I got my first paycheck at the ripe old age of nine. I received $ 35.00 from a woman's magazine for a tip I wrote on how to iron a sharp crease in a pair of pants.  For someone who wasn't even allowed to hold an iron, it was better than Christmas.  I was hooked!

The writing life is lonely though. Sometimes I pull out that old poem as a reminder that I didn't choose writing; writing chose me, and it's hard. And what happens just when I feel like I'm starting to get in the groove?
                       
                                  Fibromyalgia comes along and threatens everything.

Have you ever had your dream threatened? That's when we need to run in the opposite direction - we need to run toward the dream.

For me, that meant attending a writer's conference in Florida. It meant that I needed to embrace the tension and not allow myself to sink into a pit of discouragement. Even though I had to wake up at 3:30 AM, carry heavy luggage and spend seven hours in the orlando airport...

my dreams are worth it.
                                                        And so are yours.

Living with pain can make us feel alone, but it doesn't have to rob us of our dreams.

So what do you dream about?

                                                       How can I pray for you?