Never give up


Never give up on your journey to success. You will always be living where you get your inspiration from, and keep on trying to achieve what you hope for. Don’t worry about it all falling down.

Do you know when you start doing something that is not right, or even better, the wrong thing? Don’t worry — you are still getting there. When I was a kid it seemed like everyone else was so successful that they had it figured out how to become one too. My mom told me to follow my dreams, and never stop believing my heart, and the best way to do that was to try harder.


Try harder.

I think I was eight years old when we started moving to another state permanently, and that’s when I really took notice of things that were really going on around me. It wasn’t hard, but I could easily see that everyone else seemed so much more settled in their own way than I. And this happened all the time. You just don’t have to look very far. That could even be you.



It took me a long while to get back into the swing of things. However, this isn’t going to be an article written about becoming successful — it’s just about giving yourself permission to go after what you truly want. No matter how difficult it may seem at first, you will hit the ground running and you will see the light at the end of the tunnel.


Crazy or Challenging

If someone asks you for a favor, don’t turn them down. If someone mentions something that seems crazy or challenging, go against your grain and go towards it. At times, it isn’t easy, and yes, that can be a scary place to be when you aren’t used to overcoming obstacles. But you need to remember this — those moments are exactly why you came to this earth, and they will never be taken away from you if you work hard enough.


The other day I read on Facebook another writer who has been struggling with burnout was talking about being her biggest struggle. What did she do? She turned her back to people who were hurting and focused on herself instead of what others needed. Here’s the key: the people who hurt you are not able to hurt you. The people who do harm to you won’t do it again. Your hurt does not make them mad. The only person who can hurt you is you. Even though our society keeps telling us that we cannot be ourselves, we shouldn’t let that happen to us either.


Power

You have the power to take those lives that hurt you and use whatever knowledge you gained there to put a positive spin on them. Use every piece of you that you have to make something good out of these people. Be kind. Tell them what is in their best interests to heal. Let them go back to their day jobs or whatever other options they might have. Be happy and allow them to reach their fullest potential. Take some time away from them to focus on what needs to be done and find out who can help with those tasks. Leave them feeling loved instead of hurt. Be grateful that those people exist for you.

What you cannot control and won’t win is what makes you frustrated. So when you find yourself frustrated because you cannot achieve your goals, go forth and discover the opportunities that exist within those boundaries. Because that’s often how you learn. By taking advantage of opportunities, making friends, and being intentional, you’ll keep coming across challenges along your way.


Mistakes

You will make mistakes – that’s part of the deal with life. They happen and they are bound to happen, but you are also going to gain insights. The important thing is that you know what to do with the information that will come your way. Instead of letting life drag you down, push through the hardships and learn from them. You have no idea how many great lessons I’ve learned from experiences such as these, but I think you can all agree that they will be worth the wait.

Don’t lose sight of the big picture. As someone who has been there and done that before, I know what it takes to stay true to your dreams.


Dream

When I wanted a bigger apartment, my parents said “You got an offer after graduation, you should jump at it. You’ve always dreamed about it.” The problem was, I could not put my foot down yet and I knew I would eventually have to put my hand to the plow if I wanted the dream of a house of my own. If I didn’t, I would soon move on to having to rely upon an occasional job to pay bills. When I moved away for college, I decided to continue working and save money. This meant staying close to home and earning extra money. There were times that I wouldn’t mind waking up early just to say hi and watch TV. After graduating, I took a leap into entrepreneurship and now work full-time on the side. Being paid is definitely something I can appreciate, but it really taught me how much independence I have now. I am incredibly lucky to have found such flexibility in life and work from wherever I have to go. As I travel, I am constantly trying new things, and while I sometimes get bored with my routine, it doesn’t mean I am less satisfied in my life.


Change careers

I have had to change careers from startups to startups without losing any sleep since I dropped everything I owned about nine months ago. A lot of people do this and it sounds amazing, but I am not a social butterfly and I am not sure I can handle rejection on a regular. Rather than turning out the lights and sulking for days, I went after my idea and never stopped trying until I finally succeeded. Sometimes being ambitious isn’t the way to accomplish anything, so when my business failed, I tried again. With that second attempt, I made some adjustments and changed jobs. It also led me to realize I was never meant to be someone that worked from 9 to 5, which was my main job – and honestly, it took a toll on my mental health, although that is something that must be said because of the immense amount of stress and anxiety that comes with it. Once again, I continued to find myself stuck between the two worlds I had created. I couldn’t get out the other side in one piece or the other. My struggles were real but I refused to allow them to define me because I hadn’t given up on the things that I loved doing.


Unique Ability

My mother died recently. Her last words were something I didn’t quite get over, but it wasn’t until I left her body that I realized how true it was for all of us that we each have this unique ability. We each have our stories that we share with the world, and they are unique and make us feel different. Some moments feel very small or insignificant, but our experiences show us how beautiful life is. We are who we are by our experiences, and how we learn to live is by sharing them. It is because you share them with someone else that you know and love that you do.


So my sister sent me a photo of her and her dog at sunset, and I thought, “What a story!” It was a family portrait of sorts that brought tears to my eyes. I felt such joy seeing these familiar faces sitting together. It made me smile, and I wanted to give her the same reaction – I wanted her to cry, I wanted her to laugh at least once. But I’m not here to talk about a lot of stuff. We need to get through this current time – we simply cannot afford to spend time crying because a sad situation like this is happening.


Keep in mind

We must all keep in mind the little moments and stories we are given that will add to our strength and comfort. Things happen like that – and they do feel like tiny pieces of wood in the eye of a thousand nails to hit us all at once. It’s exhausting, but that is a fact of life. Just know that you are strong. Everything you do matters, even the smallest details of your day or event. Most of the time the little things matter more than the bigger ones. That, at the end of the day, is all that matters.

Keep chasing those dreams. All we can do today is try and we have nothing else to lose but this. Don’t give up, and if you do… that is okay. Keep pushing. Do your best to put that puzzle piece in place. Figure out who your true friends are so that you can be the friend you hope to be. Put those pieces together and turn them into something that will bring you peace of mind knowing it is possible. Remember when I said you must understand, you must trust. I think that you must be able to believe that if you are willing to try, anything is possible.


Peace of mind

All you can do is ask, “What can I do today that would bring me peace of mind?” What is possible? Is there a chance? Yes, there is. Just never forget the reason why you got here in the first place, and never forget to make the effort to build it out. There is always a reason why you started out the way that you did, and that is fine. One day, you might find yourself not being able to walk, but never give yourself credit just because you haven’t walked yet. Stand in front of your mirror and be grateful that you are standing here on the other side of the door.

You never have the answer. What you do know is that you are never really alone. Make an inventory of all the parts