Following your dreams…

…is hard.

…is terrifying.

…can be lonely.

…begs for criticism.

…will make you doubt yourself.

…will make you cry.

But then when you get them it will…

…be easy(er)

…shut the critics up

…make you believe in yourself

…make you smile

…show you what true happiness is all about.

when i began this journey

about 8 months ago, everyone had doubts.  My world was full of critics (although there was a small group of supporters, and I love them to death).  Even I was one of them.  I doubted myself, questioned my decisions, wondered if what I was doing was right.  Everyone wanted to know why I would give up all the money I was making. ” Why would you want to work that many hours in a hot kitchen and always work nights and never know when your days off will be when you can sit at that cushy air conditioned computer Monday through Friday and make more money?” When i submitted my resignation to that cushy job 3 months ago, I started to panic.  

Then I walked into my new job, and felt at home.  And everything went away. Doubts vanished.  Confidence began building.  The constant chatter of the critics was drowned out by the sound of pans going down, baskets being shaken, bowls being stirred, my heart pounding and the staff laughing.  Little by little, a smile crept back onto my face every day for the first time in too long.  I am physically and mentally stronger now than I have felt for a long, long, long time.  I am happier than I think I may have ever been.   

when you dream, dream big, and go for it.  it’s worth it.

I’m not saying dive off the cliff face first every time you dream something up…but when it’s something you really have passion for, always go for it.  Just plan first.  Failing to plan is planning to fail, and I have proved this to myself over and over again over the last few months:

This move in my life was highly calculated.  I knew before I jumped exactly how many pennies I would have.  I secured a job before quitting my old one.  I did the math and found an apartment I could afford.  I made a list of the things I could and could not live without and stuck to it (still stick to it). I made sure I had a backup plan.  Like I said, highly calculated.  However, all the calculating and list making is a big part of the reason why I have been, to this point, so successful.   If I had not done the math, if I had not looked so carefully for an apartment, if I had not found the new job first…. I would have lasted until my first car payment came due, and probably would have had to give it up.  

If I could do it all over again

I wouldn’t change a thing.  Except that maybe (if I could have controlled it) I would have doubted myself a little less.

Go get your dreams people, it’s worth it. No matter what anyone else says, if it’s in your heart, do it.