Dream High

How high would you dream if you knew you couldn’t fail?

This saying has been my beacon for many, many years.  It tells me that the biggest impediment to achieving my goals is my own insecure self.  I’ve been told since childhood, or at least learned by watching family and friends, that someone like me should be content to be average.  Don’t make waves.  Don’t set your expectations too high so you don’t get disappointed.

Writing a book, being a published author, doing book signings, being a success, is something “other people” do.

Babe Ruth said, “Don’t let the fear of striking out hold you back.”  Of course, if you never get up to bat, you never strike out.  Thus, you are safe in your own little world of never taking chances.  If you write a book but never submit it to a publisher, you never, ever, get one of those nasty rejection letters.  Then you can sit back and say, “My manuscript is probably great but as long as I keep it in a drawer, I’ll never know and never have to face being told it doesn’t meet someone else’s standards.”

What if, every manuscript you sent in was accepted?

What if, every goal you set, you achieved?

How high would you dream if you  knew you couldn’t fail?

The summer Olympics are on right now.  What if every athlete said, “I won’t win so why bother?”  Olympian Dara Torres says "Never put an age limit on your dreams."  She didn't and she won the gold in swimming 2000, 1992, 1984, silver 2008 and 1988, bronze in 2000 and 1988.

Are your dreams turning into nightmares?  Would you rather not try at all so you don't experience failure?

Dreams are those marvelous thoughts that tell us we can be more, have more, do more.  But we have to dream high enough.  We can’t limit ourselves by our own vision of what we “should” do or are “expected” to do.  Get out there and tear down the barriers that are holding you back.  Write that book.  Send in that query letter.  You never know what might happen when you “go for the gold!”

Today’s quote:  Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.  Winston Churchill