Do you have a dream?

Do you have a dream?

Every dream start somewhere. There's a moment that influences you deeply. There's a turning point in everyone's life. One such moment that influenced me was when I young and had no clue of what I wanted to become in the future. This person taught me to have my own dream, until then all I knew was to work hard to fulfill my parent's dream. 

I had a dream once. I'm living it now. 

Today, I want to share how and when it all started. 

Dr. A.P. J. Abdul Kalam. This great man influenced me the most. His book "Wings of Fire" gave me the inspiration to chase my dream. The educational section of the newspaper posted his articles frequently. 

I was thirteen and was greatly inspired by the scientist, who launched rockets. I had no interest in science, but was fascinated by his motivational speeches and positivity. Every time I read his words, I would feel that everything in this world was possible.

He always said, "You must have a dream." As a kid, I didn't know what it really meant to dream. 

“Dream is not that which you see while sleeping it is something that does not let you sleep.” – Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam 

I asked myself, what is my dream? What is the one thing that doesn't let me sleep? It was also the time I developed the habit of reading fiction. The first thing that came into the mind of that 8th grade kid was writing. I imagined creating my own stories and sharing it with the world. As fancy as it sounded, I dreamt of becoming a published author, a dream at that time I thought was impossible. 

Impossible because, I had no guidance. No one to point me to the right direction. Most of all, I was afraid to tell someone that I wanted to become an author some day. Because becoming an author was never considered as a profession. It still doesn't considered by many as a profession. Let's talk more about that in another post. Now, back to the topic.

There was no internet or any other sources to connect to the outside world. It was a time when owning a personal computer is considered as a luxury. The only thing I had was small bookstores with limited supply of books. 

As years passed, I had to bury the dream and work toward the other things. My responsibilities  swallowed my time. But at nights, when I was alone and thinking I would still dream. I'd tell myself that, "It's okay to dream even if I had no way to accomplish it." Because that dream offered some comfort when life got harder. 

Then came a night when I finally plucked the courage to pen my thoughts. When I finished writing the first chapter, I screamed with joy. The sense of accomplishment overwhelmed me. The satisfaction was something I never experienced before. Creating something from scratch was a pure joy. 

It was then I understood, why it was important to follow your heart. Writing had always been my passion. I wrote because it made me happy. 

The next step was to share my writing. I had no guidance on how things worked in the world of writing. Most of all, I lacked confidence. Self doubt and insecurities ruled me. I blindly posted it on an online writing site called Wattpad. I really didn't expect someone would even read it. But the encouraging comments came as a huge surprise. The number of readers increased day by day. 

I still don't clearly remember how it went from there. All I did was to constantly improve, seek help from fellow authors and readers. I would stay awake at nights and rewrote my first script at least nine times. It caused me to burnout several times. Yet, I did it with a smile because this was my dream. 

Three years, three published and twenty-five unpublished books later...I now understand the real meaning behind his words.

Always have a dream and work hard to achieve it. Nothing is impossible in this world if you put your heart into it.

Don't be afraid to dream. It might feel impossible now, but I'm sure if you worked hard enough, you'll live your dream some day. Never give up!