Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Making Independence Day Personal

by Sue Ann Jaffarian

My posting today is going to piggy-back and expand on Mark Combes’ excellent posting of two days ago about independence and writing.

I do a lot of motivational speaking and my main topic is usually about turning dreams into goals and goals into reality. I always wanted to be a published author. And I mean always, ever since I was a kid. For years, I would go into libraries and book stores, find where on the fiction shelf my books would one day appear and physically spread that spot apart to make room for them … one day. Now I go into libraries and book stores to check to see if they are there.

What does Independence Day mean to me as applied to my life as a writer? It means not just choosing my destiny, but having the courage to choose it and follow it in the face of naysayers, critics, and time and finance restraints. It means making sacrifices to follow it wherever it might lead. It means having the strength and determination to keep moving when I get knocked down. And it means celebrating both the small and large achievements that help me reach for the next level.

Independence Day is more than just the celebration of the birth of our nation. Independence Day is a mind set. For me, independence is about making my dreams become realities.

4 comments:

Mark Combes said...

Sorry to steal your thunder love...

But your post makes a hellava lot more sense than mine...

And you are spot on about the traits needed to succeed in this wacky business. Courage, sacrifice, strength, determination - and a sense of humor about all things - especially yourself.

Keep chasing those dreams girl.

Nina Wright said...

Hip, hip, hooray! I love your post, Sue Ann, and agree with it completely. The longer I live and write, the more determined I am to focus only on the positive. It works.

Clearly, you figured out "The Secret" long before it was a bestseller. ;<)

Nina

Diana said...

Cheers!! Well said and heartfelt.

Sue Ann Jaffarian said...

Mark, you didn't steal my thunder at all; more the other way around. I was going to write that as a comment to your posting when I realized... "hey, I'm posting in 2 days...on the 4th ... there's MY blog post!" :)