When Your Dream Kicks The Crap Out Of You
Have you ever felt like your dream has drop-kicked the crap out of you?
I know I have. Many different times in many different ways.
The worst is when your dream feels so close you can touch it.
You can see your dream in front of you. It’s real. It’s happening. Then it smirks and slowly walks out of the door and out of your life like the girl with big eyes at the beginning of an indie music video.
Can you relate?
For me the dream that I feel has slipped out the front door has been was the release of my book, All Groan Up: Searching For Self, Faith, and a Freaking Job!, which came out about a year and a half ago.
Long story short if you don’t know it — it took about ten years to see All Groan Up actually come to print. So many hours, re-writes, and rejection. Plus in the book I’m pretty open and vulnerable so it kind of feels like my heart is on each page.
And then after ten years and all the rejection from publishers who liked the book but wouldn’t take chance on an unknown author….the book finally comes out…and….a slight breeze. A low whisper. A small marketing budget that helps the book barely make a sound amidst all the noise.
It’s hard to want to create something more when what you’ve spent the most time creating becomes a pebble tossed in a pond, a half-second splash followed by a rapid descent to the bottom.
And honestly I think what gets me the most is that whenever someone reads All Groan Up, it has an impact and it encourages them. It’s rated 4.8 out of 5 on Amazon, better than my first book, 101 Secrets For Your Twenties. I’m proud of 101 Secrets and am honored people have liked it, yet All Groan Up was such a huge part of my life for so many years it’s been really hard to let it go.
The dream of All Groan Up finding its wings and soaring like an eagle has been caged.
All Groan Up has been a penguin, waddling slowly forward.
Can you relate to a dream feeling more penguin than eagle? If so, what do we do?
For me the dream that I feel has slipped out the front door has been was the release of my book, All Groan Up: Searching For Self, Faith, and a Freaking Job!, which came out about a year and a half ago.
Long story short if you don’t know it — it took about ten years to see All Groan Up actually come to print. So many hours, re-writes, and rejection. Plus in the book I’m pretty open and vulnerable so it kind of feels like my heart is on each page.
And then after ten years and all the rejection from publishers who liked the book but wouldn’t take chance on an unknown author….the book finally comes out…and….a slight breeze. A low whisper. A small marketing budget that helps the book barely make a sound amidst all the noise.
It’s hard to want to create something more when what you’ve spent the most time creating becomes a pebble tossed in a pond, a half-second splash followed by a rapid descent to the bottom.
And honestly I think what gets me the most is that whenever someone reads All Groan Up, it has an impact and it encourages them. It’s rated 4.8 out of 5 on Amazon, better than my first book, 101 Secrets For Your Twenties. I’m proud of 101 Secrets and am honored people have liked it, yet All Groan Up was such a huge part of my life for so many years it’s been really hard to let it go.
The dream of All Groan Up finding its wings and soaring like an eagle has been caged.
All Groan Up has been a penguin, waddling slowly forward.
Can you relate to a dream feeling more penguin than eagle? If so, what do we do?
What to Do With an Unfinished Dream
To all of us I say this — be encouraged... You never know what can, will, or is supposed to happen with the outcome of your dream. All you can do is the work, then you have to let your dream go. Lay down the bricks and trust that something amazing is being built. If you’re tied to the outcome of your dream, the results will drag you to the bottom like an anvil. I know it has for me and it took me awhile to find my air...To read the rest of this article, click here.