01.30.09
“I have spread my dreams…”
“I have spread my dreams beneath your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”
-W.B. Yeats
I have been thinking about dreams a lot lately, dreams, and goals, and plans, and the future in general. My own and other people’s. Life’s work and life’s worth.
Can your dreams ever be just too big for you to ever grow into, too big for you to ever achieve? Does there come a time when you need to take a look at your big dreams and trim them a little so that they may actually be attainable? Or, are there ways that you can still go about reaching these dreams with the biggest question of all actually being how to figure out what it is you need to do differently?
It seems that when achieving a dream becomes so much of a priority, so much of a preoccupation, that not being able to reach it causes you to become aggravated or frustrated, something has simply got to give. But, what?
I can’t help but think that while patience may be a virtue, it is also the destroyer of dreams.
~Melissa 
09.13.08
“Many of life’s failures…”
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
- Thomas A. Edison
Happy Saturday, Everyone!
I found this quote today on a blog, www.successforrealpeople.wordpress.com, and it got me thinking! Of course I thought about my own successes, but also my students’. I often tell them that I don’t believe there is such a thing as failure. I tell them that when they think they have failed, they simply have not succeeded, yet. I don’t think it is ever too late to work at a goal or a dream that you have, even if you yourself have given up hope. Hope is something that you can always find again, if and when you want to.
Like Thomas Edison has said, I do think it is true that many times people give up right before they would accomplish their task. It is very similar to Randy’ Pausch’s idea of “brick walls” (if you haven’t read The Last Lecture yet, please do!) and how they are put in place to really test how badly we want what we are going after. I think though that if we allow a “brick wall” to get in our way, or we do give up on something, we still can go back to it later on. I don’t like to hear people who say that they will never be good at something, or that they missed their opportunity at something. There is no such thing! For example, I let some brick walls get in the way of my own writing and publishing for a while, but I have come back to it a little stronger and more confident than before and am working at my goals from an even a better place than I did the last time. I never felt like I had failed because I stopped writing or working on certain pieces, but that I had just not yet succeeded, that the time was not yet right. I kept the faith and the hope that someday I would come back to these goals and achieve them. I am now making that someday today.
Look at Thomas Edison himself; this is his quote and he is a perfect example of someone who had tremendous success in his life as well as a considerable amount of “failures.” But, because he persevered and succeeded in the end, we do not view him as a failure. We know of him only through his successes and accomplishments.
Think about your own lives today and see if there is anything that you had once really hoped to accomplish, but didn’t. Do you see a way to do it now? Do you still have part of that dream alive inside of you? If so, go for it. Don’t give up. It is never too late!
~Melissa
Keeping track of 1,000 words a day…
Keeping track of 1,000 words a day is much more difficult than I thought it would be. I have been writing every day, but I haven’t necessarily kept count of the words. I think that’s actually okay, because keeping count at least got me to recognize the threshold of where I wanted to be and the progress I would like to make on my projects. I know that I already wrote 1,000 words for today (because I remembered to keep track). So, I will modify my pledge (at least for the time being) so that I continue to pledge to write each day, but I won’t have to count the words. Maybe if I feel like I am slipping a little, I will start counting again. But, for now, the counting doesn’t seem necessary.
Does anyone else have any progress they would like to share or any struggles that they are facing and would like help with? Any writer’s block or other frustration? Anything recently completed or published that you would like to mention? Let us know!
~Melissa
08.31.08
1,000 Word Pledge Update – So far, so good.
I think this goal is going to work out really well for me. (Two days is a considerable indicator, right?) Well, I wrote 601 words for the novel and 409 words for the thesis today. That’s over the 1,000 mark and now anything else that I might do is just extra. I also like getting this done early in the day because now I can go and enjoy everything else that I do (besides writing) and feel like I have already accomplished quite a bit.
Happy Sunday!
~Melissa
08.20.08
“It seems to me that people…”
“It seems to me that people have vast potential. Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don’t. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever.”
- Philip Adams
How true! As a teacher, perhaps I am trained to appreciate potential differently from non-teachers. I’m not entirely sure about that, but I do know that I see vast amounts of potential in my students, as well as my friends and family all of the time. It is wonderfully inspiring to see so much potential and fascinates me on a daily basis just how talented, creative, and passionate people can be, but what exasperates me to no end is that so much of this potential is untapped.
This quote definitely hits the nail on the head and addresses that confidence is often the missing factor. (And, I think that I especially liked this quote because it is also quite profound in stating that no one builds confidence by watching television…a big pet peeve of mine.)
For me, this blog has been a risk. I had no idea exactly what I was doing when I started it nearly a month ago. To be honest, I’m not even sure where the confidence to do it came from. Writing has always been something that came somewhat easily to me and when I see others who struggle with it, I want to help. I love to share what I write and the idea of writing professionally has always been a goal that I would like to achieve “someday.” But, as the quote reminds us, life does not go on forever. One day, you just have to decide that it is your “someday.” You have to have the confidence to make it happen.
Submitting my work for publication is a risk and requires tons and tons of confidence. But, the magic of it all is that once you get going, once you find out how to believe in yourself, the confidence builds. If you focus on what you want your outcome to be and remind yourself of it over and over, you can make anything happen.
As with anything in life, the key to remember is that there has to be a balance. The apprehension, the nervousness, and the uncertainty about what you are willing to risk or venture are all necessary and shouldn’t be lost or overshadowed by too much confidence. Those feelings of humility and modesty are what make us stay on track and stay focused on what is truly important to us. If we don’t have some fear, some rejection, or some disappointment along our journeys, then the we won’t really appreciate our destination when we reach our potential. People who are too sure of themselves, arrogant, or cocky may become well known and may have many accomplishments to their name, but they are not the people who we would consider extraordinary. Be extraordinary.
Choose to do something today that feels risky, but is important. Come back and share your story. I believe in you.
~Melissa
