Let The Music Play

I heard the saddest thing ever yesterday. I was walking along, minding my own business, when I overheard two people chatting about life. That's when I heard it. The phrase that actually brought tears to my eyes.
"There are so many people who die with the music still inside them".  I immediately zoned out and thought about how very true that statement actually is.

I started thinking about all the things I wanted to do with my life, but haven't because I'm afraid of failing. All the dreams that went to death because people didn't believe in me enough to make them real. At least, that is how I always felt, until I heard that statement. I realized something. Dreams are made by the artist who dares to dream them. Only we can make them real. Sure there are people we encounter along the way who can help you make them possible, but only you can truly give them life.

There are so many of us who have hidden talents, dreams and aspirations and never allow their light to shine. So many individuals never hear their calling or do but are too afraid to work it. I honestly don't know what's worse: Having a dream and not living it, or never having the guts to dream at all. Sadly, I think a lot of that comes from upbringing. Let's be honest, there are parents ( or people in your life generally) who either allow you to "dream your dreams" or don't. I hate it when I hear parents telling their children to stop their "fantasy day-dreaming" and live reality. Or that dreams don't put food on the table/pay the bills. It gives an individual doubt very early on in their lives. That dreams are bad or that they will NEVER happen, so why bother dreaming them at all. These are the individuals that die with the music still inside them.

I think I've been both blessed and cursed in this area. In my life, it was an even toss up. Thankfully for me, I had a great role model and someone who truly believed that I could literally be/do anything I wanted in this life-because I was special. My Grandmother (Ernestina) was a pretty remarkable lady. She always told me that I had so much talent inside me and that it needed to be shared. It was because of her that I actually discovered I could write. So I thank her for that. I'm really very sad that she wasn't able to be with me and watch me grow up. I could have used her support in my life. Although there was a positive strength in my life, there would be many others who would come to diminish my light, as the years past. Luckily for me, the positive ones always stayed true in my heart and won most of the "inner battles" I had going on inside me.

Today, I say this to you all. Live your dreams, no matter what anyone else tells you! They certainly have no right to tell you what you can or cannot do. Nobody owns the true definition of who you are but you. Remember that. I know there will be times when it will feel like you will never reach your star, but you will. You just have to have a little faith and always believe in yourself-even when nobody else will. I don't know about you, but there is nothing that gets my juices flowing more furiously than someone telling me that I can't do something. It makes me all the more determined to not only achieve it, but to exceed their expectations.  There is nothing sweeter than that. You know the saying: "Saying it best when saying nothing at all"? Well, it is very true. There is a great deal of power in that.

So if you're sitting out there today, reading my blog, I plead with you to think about your life. Is there something you have been too afraid to dream of? Do you dream but fear that they will never become a reality? Does your negativity (or the negativity instilled in you by others) keep you for dreaming or living that dream? Just for a moment ask yourself..why not? Why not me? Why can't this happen? Why shouldn't my dreams be my reality?

You must grab hold of yourself and promise yourself that you will never again live another minute in denial of your potential. Never again allow the negative voices to grab hold of you and keep you in a dark unhappy reality. Never again allow anyone else to dictate what your life can be or what your dreams are worth.

It doesn't matter where you come from, it's where your going that matters. Another saying that is so true. Too many people make excuses for why their lives have turned out.  Too many of us allow life to break us. Of course there are always circumstances that cause you to scream out that life's not fair. Yet, in those times you and you alone, can truly be the only one to pick yourself up and carry on. We must, if we don't than we'll miss the whole damn show.


So stop making excuses about your failures. Stop making excuses about not realizing your dreams. It's not your Mother's fault, it's not your Father's fault or a lack there of. It's not because others had the opportunities you never had and it's certainly not about money, education or power. It's time that we stop blaming our environments for the end product of ourselves. We don't have to become failures or feel worthless because we were a part of a poor/bad environment. That is just nonsense. I really get frustrated when I hear people saying that. Empathize with your past and move on. Progress from it. Learn from it, but don't dwell there. That's just stupid. Take your lessons and make them the key component to your success. Allow your failures to be the fuel to your future achievements.
 
For if you don't, then you will just be another one of those people who dies with their music still inside them. And that, my dear friends, would be an honest waste of God's creation.