Life · Personal story · Quotes For You · Weave that Dream · Writing

If Tomorrow Comes…personal

jacquelineobyikocha

Recently, I had a chat with a friend and we spoke about passion. Since we had that chat, I have been mulling over bits and pieces of our conversation and chewing on the fat of things.Chase the vision

During our chat, she did not out-rightly deride my passion about writing and public speaking, but in her opinion, she thinks that it should be classified as a hobby, since I was not yet making pots of money from either.

In her eyes, I was not yet a serious writer because there is no World acclaimed bestseller title under my belt.

As far as she is concerned, I am writing just for the pleasure of writing. At this point I had my tongue in my cheek trying to rein myself in from saying the first thought that fleeted through my mind, which was @#$#$%$##%!

Calmly, I asked her how much pleasure she was deriving from her work?

If she was that ecstatic about it, why is it that she moans over her job every time we speak, wishing she had the funds to take a bold step away from the rat race bandwagon.

She had wished over a 1,000 times that she had the guts to pursue her desires to own an events management outfit, but like I had equally given myself the leeway of excuses in the past, she had a million reasons why she couldn’t get started in that direction.

I asked her what her plans were in the immediate, interim and long term, towards achieving her goal, but to my surprise, she had made absolutely no concrete plans in the realization of her dreams.

….And she calls me a dreamer!

Her hope is that tomorrow will come armed with all that she would require to achieve her dreams and build her castles in the passing wind.

I told her that ”Tomorrow will never come if we don’t get hold of today!”

I now cheekily told her that I am absolutely pleased with what I am doing at the moment and though I did not give her a detailed breakdown, I drew a sketchy idea of my writing prospects and aspirations which I believe will come to pass even if it delays.

In the meantime, I told her that I was willing to make certain sacrifices to achieve my dreams, since I had also learnt that some of the material expenses which we load on ourselves were absolutely unnecessary. We can live very well without some of these things for as long as is necessary.

I have heard tales and jokes of hungry artists/writers. I have heard about all the hard mental work endured for passion in return of peanuts.

…Then again, I have heard and have experienced first hand, the irrefutable, bone deep pleasure that a true writer derives from answering their call and I then realize the true meaning of the morbid African proverb which says that”we cannot because of the fear of death avoid going to war, if that war means that we get to live the life that we deserve.”

In some ways, she was right that I am not yet making anything out of my vision and dreams.

Now, it is time to write the vision, take the vision and run with it.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Published by jacquelineobyikocha

A wordsmith with a vivid imagination, an eager mind and a burning desire to carve out tales. As I journey with my muse to that land of all possibilities and self discovery, I hope my personal evolution will serve as a beacon of inspiration for anyone who chooses to stop by.

73 thoughts on “If Tomorrow Comes…personal”

  7. I love this post! I totally agree with you!! It takes a lot of courage to pursue your dreams and passions. Although we may not make a lot of money from it, we’ll definitely live much satisfying and fulfilling lives.

    Keep going!!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  8. The journey of athousand miles begins with the first step,right. You are working on something,most people on here are. It’s way better than aur castle building. Great piece. And you are an awesome writer :-).

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. Oh, these “rationalists”, haven’t got even enough reason to realize how irrational they are…. I so totally empathize with what you say here – it’s my own experience in a nutshell.
    Meanwhile, let they go fill in to the brim and overflow the malls of Dubai and of everywhere… exhaust to the limit their time, money and energy reserves, a far more intelligent way, in their eyes, than “dreaming” your future into being.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  15. This reminds me so much of the speech I heard long ago given by a teacher who when asked by a friend “What do you make?” … the teacher responded not a money figure amount, but instead… “I MAKE A DIFFERENCE!” — I say. “Go for it!”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  17. If you don’t mind my bluntness, I cry, “Horse Hockey!” Money and fame do not define you as a writer. Do you not have an audience of readers now? Are we all just chopped liver? So what if you are not making a living with your word. You are touching lives for the good which is more precious than the finest of gold.

    These are your own words…”A wordsmith with a vivid imagination, an eager mind and a burning desire to carve out tales. As I journey with my muse to that land of all possibilities and self discovery, I hope my personal evolution will serve as a beacon of inspiration for anyone who chooses to stop by.”

    Your words captured each and every reader who follows you. We do not stop by out of a sense of obligation but because we know there will be some interesting nugget to meditate on.

    Now, cut the nonsense and do what you do best….make me smile 🙂 By the way, I’m glad I’m out of arms reach so that you can’t pop me upside the head.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  18. You are an inspiration to those following their dreams.
    Boo to the nay sayers!!!
    I think people who are fearful of following their own dreams feel it necessary to squish everyone else’s dream….then they won’t be the only ones NOT living their dream!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  19. Jacqueline, I totally understand you. My friends too think that I’m wasting my time in writing. They think I’m crazy to spend my time writing when it doesn’t earn money. But, the deep sense of satisfaction I get when I put down my thoughts is incomparable. I too believe in the words” Chase your vision. Money will follow you.” I hope our wishes will come true someday.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  20. Hello and thanks for sharing such a thoughtful article. I also believe that despite anything we work for, our goals matter rather than the other materialistic things.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  21. Remember my post on “Driven by Passion” and the one about naysayers where I mention Steve Jobs. The answers are all there for you. However, it sounds to me that you already know the answer. Fyi: For starters, take all your short stories that you’ve written compile and there’s your book.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Amen! Your title I envision as your website name and your book over has some antique cooking pot but yet unique and maybe a camouflage of people at bottom or side of book. I can seem it in my head. Self-publishing is cheap if you do most of the work. Most companies are only doing this charging anywhere from $2K to $10K. Don’t pay that unless you truly feel that you can’t do the cover and setup your book with appropriate margins, etc. based on the book size, etc. I know you can do this or maybe someone tech savvy. Google a literary agent in your area and give it a go for about 10 of them. Send only a chapter but no more. The most enticing chapter so they get an idea of the book. This way may take 6mos or year… I would recommend to give God a timeframe as to how long you wait on an agent getting you a deal. If the time passes, God is telling you to self-publish. GOD ALWAYS CONFIRMS ESPECIALLY IN THE METHOD OF TIMING. YOU’RE NOT PLACING A DEMAND ON GOD, BUT YOU’RE ALLOWING HIM TO WORK HIS MAGIC IN THE WAY THAT IS CURRENTLY BEST FOR YOU. FYI. When you self publish, you keep the rights and can always republish with a big company. Always check this fact with self-publisher. My books can be republished at anytime but, right now, I’m not seeking a literary agent. When I checked about a year, most weren’t accepting manuscripts unless someone referred me. In Dubai, everything may be different and in fact, I feel in my spirit that you got not only 1 best seller but many….Continued blessings my sister, Emma

        Like

  22. Thank you for this! When there are others who try to push down that dream of writing, in my case too, it becomes hard to stay motivated because “blogging is just for fun.” Yes, it’s fun but I also hope to do something with it too. Writing is amazing and when you write about something that inspires you, you can’t help but be passionate! Thanks for this reminder, you really have such a way with words. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  29. Got caught up by this your words ”Tomorrow will never come if we
    don’t get hold of today!” and that’s entirely too true. Nice piece. Nothing pays more than following our passion.
    Happy holidays and Merry Christmas.
    much love, George

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  31. Sometimes we have to careful when giving advise especially as friend. Whaf your friend unknowingly did was poke a pin in your dream balloon. If you were not rooted that may have swing a hard blow. On the other hand, I honestly do believe you will success as speaker and an author. You remind me of this lady on Youtube (she has goddess as part of her online name) who has gone on to successfully publish a book and holding talks.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  32. You are totally right and as always, full of wisdom. I believe you have given your dear friend something to chew on and I wouldn’t be surprised if she now starts to take the necessary steps to follow her own dreams and now realize that you are living yours. The money will come, but the dream is now!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

I love it when you decorate my heart with your words..