MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
-Robert Collier

To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.
-William Shakespeare

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.
Confucius

Sometimes it sure feels like those small efforts aren't getting us anywhere, doesn't it? Or, that we're not just going at a slow and steady pace, but damn near standing still! Those times can be frustrating.

It's like when we were kids and we were traveling some place with our parents, and it felt like we'd been in the car forever. We ask of our weary parents again and again, "Are we there yet?" And again and again, the answer is a disheartening, "No".

About a year ago, I got this strong desire to write a romance novel. It started on a lark. I've mentioned here before about National Novel Writers Month, better known as NaNoWriMo. This is an online event that takes place every November, and the idea is to try to write a 50,000 word novel in the space of 30 days. My daughter, Caitlin, wanted to do it, and she talked me into doing it with her for moral support.

Well, I didn't write 50,000 words by the end of November. I did, however, write over 30,000 and came away with an idea for a romance novel that I love and really want to finish.

I've never written a novel before, romance or otherwise. So what qualifies me to write one now? Absolutely nothing, but the sheer desire and determination I have to do so.

I've had to learn and relearn a lot about writing and I'm finding the challenge to be quite fascinating and enjoyable. But, I do struggle at times with feeling like I'm really not getting anywhere.

When we look at a goal that seems so far out of reach, it's easy to lose sight of the steps we've already taken on our journey towards it. It feels like there's still so far to go, like we've been traveling forever, and we're just not getting anywhere. This is why we need to celebrate each step we take in the direction of our goal, no matter how small. Each one is bringing us closer and closer to our dream come true.

Looking at it as a whole, writing a novel is a daunting project. Writing ten pages seems a whole lot more doable. Writing just ten pages feels a very long way off from writing a 400 page novel. But, as we all know, ten pages on top of ten pages, on top of ten more pages will one day add up to 400 pages.

The key is in not getting discouraged and giving up. It's easier to keep going if we remember to celebrate all the steps we've already taken along the way. Soon enough, the distance we still have to go will be much shorter than the distance we've already gone.

Just like on those long road trips with Mom and Dad. Soon you start seeing those billboards announcing that your destination is getting near, and before you know it, you've arrived and the elation you feel is worth all the frustration and boredom you sometimes felt along the way.

Keep on keeping on. :o)

P.S. I'm not even worrying about what I'm going to do with the romance novel when I finish it. My only goal at the moment is FINISHING it. ;o)

MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY

Man, alone, has the power to transform his thoughts into physical reality; man, alone, can dream and make his dreams come true.
-----Napoleon Hill

The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams.
-----Eleanor Roosevelt

There are people who put their dreams in a little box and say, 'Yes, I've got dreams, of course I've got dreams.' Then they put the box away and bring it out once in awhile to look in it, and yep, they're still there. These are great dreams, but they never even get out of the box. It takes an uncommon amount of guts to put your dreams on the line, to hold them up and say, 'How good or how bad am I?' That's where courage comes in.
-----Erma Bombeck

I'm proud to be a dreamer. How about you? :o)

And just for fun, here's the cutest video I've seen in a long time. Perhaps these little pups had pleasant dreams after being sung to sleep with this sweet lullaby. My mom and I bred and showed Boxers for over 10 years before she passed away, so this video really brings happy memories to mind for me. Hope you enjoy it! Dream BIG dreams! :o)

MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY

Today's quote:

"Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.”
-----Langston Hughes

Sometimes it's really hard to hold onto our dreams. Particularly those that seem the most impossible to achieve, or when we have no idea what steps to take to even begin to achieve them.

Were you one of those kids who was reprimanded for being a "dreamer" or told to "get your head out of the clouds and come back to earth"? I was. Obviously, I didn't listen! I can't imagine life without having dreams and goals and yet, there are times I find it very difficult to hold onto them. There are so many things that seem determined to rip them from our hands. The mundane everyday chores that have to be done, the bills that have to be paid, the family's needs that must be met. It is so easy to get so bogged down in "what is" that we lose sight of our dreams. Sometimes they seem so very out of reach.

But life is empty without them. I know people who are content to just go through life with their only focus on getting through the work week and getting that paycheck, whose only goals in life seem to be in buying the latest toys and keeping up with the Joneses, or sitting in the lazy boy in front of the TV once the work week is through. They have no ambition beyond that. Maybe they're happy that way, and that's enough for them. But I'm glad I'm not, no matter how frustrating holding on to my dreams sometimes is.

MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY

Today's quote:

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.

---William Arthur Ward

I know this to be true. I had a desire to learn to sculpt. I had no idea where to even begin. I was definitely no prodigy, LOL. I remember when I was a kid and my mom would take my brothers and me to the local mall, they always wanted to check out the toy store. I wanted to spend hours in the collectibles shop. I was fascinated by the variety of figurines there. I knew, somehow, that was what I wanted to do. In a way I felt it was what I was meant to do.

It wasn't until some years later I actually began to try, and though I met with some early success, I can't say it came all that naturally. I took one very basic clay class, and the teacher did say I had natural talent, but I sure couldn't see it then! I went through tons of frustration, put the clay down and walked away many, many times, but I always had to go back. The desire to create, to sculpt, was much stronger than the frustration at not being able to do so the way I wanted to yet.

But all along I imagined myself to be an artist. I dreamt of being an artist. I held a vision of myself being an artist who sculpts with clay. In time, my reality matched my dreams.