I've always been a huge fan of movies in which the underdog gains victory after having worked hard to make it to the top.  Two of my favorite movies happen to be The Guardian and Annapolis.  I think I'm so drawn to those two films because the main characters in each are people that no one expected to make it very far.  People discouraged them from going for their dreams and they faced obstacles that stood in their way, but they kept on going after their goals and didn't allow anything to get in their way. I could think of some other good inspirational movies such as The Pursuit of Happiness and Invincible that are also motivating and uplifting.  I love movies based on true stories and movies where people come from rough beginnings but make it in life because it shows me that nothing is impossible to achieve in life as long as you believe in yourself and what you are doing.

I believe it is so important to have dreams and goals in life.  Dreams and goals are what keep us going and give us something to live for.  Even when I was younger, I always set goals for myself.  The thing about me is that if I say I am going to do something, I don't just say it, I actually set out and accomplish it.  I never start something unless I have the intention of finishing it and seeing it through till the very end.  It is true that not all my dreams have come true.  In fact, I think sometimes when we have dreams, they change according to events that happen in our lives.  For instance, I used to want to get a Division 1 college basketball scholarship since at one time I really enjoyed playing basketball.  Everyone had these expectations that I would go on to become this big star that they would hear about on the news and see on tv and read about in the newspapers.  For awhile, I practiced hard to become a better player.  But, eventually, with all the pressure that was put on me, basketball was just not fun for me anymore.  I lost the passion that I had for it.   My dad took the fun out of it for me by making it more like a chore.  He wanted me to be the best in the sport and had me do strenuous workouts all the time.  It got to be too much for me so I gave it up.  Do I regret quitting basketball?  Honestly, no, I don't.  Yes, I started on that road in life that appeared that it would take me to that dream, but when I quit ball and when things fell apart in my family, the road I was on suddenly changed into a different path.

Basketball wasn't the only thing I loved to do back when I was a kid.  I loved to write as well.  I took a creative writing class in 5th grade and the teacher really liked my work.  When the class ended, she told me to keep on writing and that she wouldn't be surprised if one day I became an author and my work published.   I like to be creative and original when it comes to my work.  It seems to me that so many people copy off each other or rip off one another's ideas that there just aren't very many fresh ideas out there.  One of the things I've noticed is that so many people want to put together books of survivor stories and have their own Chicken Soup type books.  A lot of people also want to start their own internet radio show to reach out to survivors.  I'm not saying anything is wrong with that because the more people who speak out, the better.  However, I notice that some of them take another person's ideas.  I've had people take my ideas before and try to imitate me and copy me.  But I can honestly say that the ideas I come up with are my original ideas because I don't like to be like everyone else.  I enjoy being different and coming up with ideas that others haven't really thought of.   When it comes to your dreams and your goals, don't copy off others; be original.  Be yourself.  It's not fun being like the rest of the world.  What makes you unique is when you come up with ideas on your own and incorporate them, using them to help others.  If other people steal your ideas or copy off them, look at as a form of flattery and a compliment.  They are taking your ideas because they like them and must think they are good enough.  I'm not saying it is right that they copy off you because it isn't.  But as long as you know that you didn't steal your ideas from anyone else and that you stuck with your dreams and goals, not duplicating anyone else, then be happy that you went about it the right way.

I never thought that I would become a writer.  I would send my work in to Chicken Soup For The Soul, hoping they would accept my work but most of the time I just got rejected.  In 9th grade, I was the English teacher's pet.  She liked my work so much that she always called on me in class to read my essays and book reports.  She would use me as an example for the rest of the class to follow.  Ironically enough, at the end of the year, I didn't win the 9th grade English Award for highest grade point average.  I came close but lost by a few points.  My parents weren't fans of my writing and never showed real interest.  When it came to me writing about personal things going on in the family, they would destroy those writings.  Back then, I wrote for fun and I really wasn't writing poetry all that much.  I didn't start writing poetry until I was 17.  I wrote here and there and when I found the chance.  Never did I imagine that I would continue to write and get my stuff published.  However, I always wanted to be an author.  I just thought that I would be more the type to write novels since I enjoyed reading books by Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, and other authors like them.  To be honest, I hated reading poetry.  I was never a fan of poetry.  So it's surprising that the type of writing I tend to be the best at is poetry.  I never really read poetry all that much growing up.  I had to memorize it for 9th grade English but I never paid much attention to it.  I wouldn't pick up a poetry book and read it for fun.  I found it boring.  

When I started networking on myspace and putting my poetry online, people noticed my work.  I was surprised at the response I received from other victims and survivors who said they could really relate to my work.  One of the things that makes me stand out as a poet is that I write inspirational poetry.  Poetry tends to be kind of a dark art, or so I have read and heard from other poets, and it's a way for people to express their emotions and feelings.  For some reason, I've never been able to write anything dark no matter how bad of a day I am having or how rough things are that I am going through.  I like to inspire people and give them hope in life.  I want people to read my work and feel motivated and encouraged.  One of my friends suggested I get my poetry published.  So I decided to give it a try and in November of 2006, my first book of poetry came out.  After that, I decided to write inspirational blogs based on my experiences and issues that we survivors face everyday.  Another one of my friends told me that I should put together my blog entries and make them into a book.  My second book that came out in 2007 was blog entries mixed with poetry.  The more that I wrote, the more people responded to what I had to say.  Writing has become my passion in life.  My writing is my voice and my way of healing.  Yes, I was nervous about putting my books out because I wondered what my parents would think, but I knew that if I cared about what they thought, then they would still have control over my life and I did not want them to have any control over any part of my life since I had fought so hard to break the chains of my past.  Although I mainly write to allow myself to heal, I'm also reaching out to other victims and survivors through my words.


If someone had told me a long time ago that I would have an online magazine, that I would have a website where survivors could share their stories, that I would have 4 books out, and that I would do all these things in my life, I would have told them they had the wrong person.  I probably would have looked at them as if they were crazy.  However, over the years, I've taken the negative parts of my life and have turned them into something positive by talking about what I have gone through and using those past experiences to help others.  I followed my heart and I stuck with my dream of writing and becoming an author.  Sure there were people who told me I couldn't do it and that I wouldn't amount to much, but I stuck with it anyways.  I didn't let my dream die.  I managed to keep the fire burning.  I knew what I wanted to do and I believed in myself.


Think about what you always wanted to do with your life.  Is there something that you always dreamed of doing but never did?  People tend to say they want to do something, that they have these dreams, but sadly they give up on them and let them die.  Sometimes it's because other people discourage them, sometimes it's because they think it's impossible to achieve, sometimes they think it's dumb and ridiculous.  I am here to tell you that your dreams and your goals are not impossible to achieve, they are not stupid, and they are not ridiculous.  Yes you are going to have people discourage you from reaching your dreams but that is because they are jealous and unhappy in their own lives since they can't seem to make their own dreams come true.  If you really want to do something, then do it.  Never allow anything to hold you back from achieving your dreams.  You may be thinking, well it's too late for me to do what I wanted to do and it will never happen now.  The good thing about life is that it is never too late to do what we want to do and live the life we've always wanted to live.  We have the ability to make it come true and turn it into a reality.  It's going to take hard work because nothing comes easy in life.  However, if you really truly believe in yourself and your dreams, then there is no star that is out of reach.  

Where would we be in life if we did not have dreams to hold onto?  Without dreams, our futures would seem so empty.  Dreams paint our future bright.  When we have an idea, when we know what we want to achieve, then we have something to work for in life.  I often like to write down on a sheet of paper the dreams and goals I have.  Every time I achieve one of them, I mark it off the list.  This shows me how far I have come and what all I have done with my life so far.  The other ones that are on the list give me something to go for.  There's no limit to what you can achieve when in your dreams you believe.  Hold tight to those dreams and goals that you have and don't let them go; keep them in your sight.   You'll never fail at what you love to do.  Don't let your dreams die and don't let anyone else kill them either.  This is your life and you only get one so make the most of it.  It is better to be able to look back years later and say, hey, I achieved what I wanted to do instead of looking back and having regrets that you didn't go after those opportunities when you had the chance.  Anything is possible when you believe.