“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door” is a quote that I’ve always heard. I can relate to it in the sense that if you are sitting around waiting on things to go the way that you are expecting them, 7 times out of 10 they won’t. The best things happen when you get up and do something to make your situation change. You cannot to expect to get results if you don’t first do the work.
Take me for example. I wanted to be a writer professionally. It was a dream I had ever since elementary school. I had lots of stuff written but nothing to the caliber of being published and reaching the public. Now me wising to be a published writer would have never happened if I didn’t get up and do something about it. I could have let my childhood ambition die with the fact that I thought my work was a bit juvenile. I could have burned my notebooks and focused another talent. My heart wouldn’t let me do that though. A force far greater than me would make me up in the middle of the night and make me write. I would think about writing constantly during the day. I had to write.
I set a goal to start working on a book. While writing that book, I started researching. I researched well known publishing companies at first but something about that just didn’t feel right for me. One day while looking through my Kindle I started paying attention to the publishers of the boos that I had been reading. They were smaller and less well known than the ones I had gotten information on before but I was drawn in. I started researching them and my spirit kept saying, ‘ Yes, this feels like home.”
After finishing my first draft, I finally built up the courage to get in contact with a company that was putting out books that fit my genre. In a couple days I received an email telling me to send in the first 3 chapters and my bio. Within the week I got a call from the publisher himself. I was so excited and nervous at the same time. The publisher told me that my work was good. He gave me some pointers on how to make my story pop a little more and at the end of the conversation I was officially welcomed to the family. I signed a contract and my dream of being published was at arm’s length. I worked so hard in the next few weeks to write, and rewrite, and rewrite some more until I was happy with my body of work. I sent my book in it’s entirety to the publisher, and he sent it to the editor. A few weeks later I was checking my emails and I opened one up from my publisher. Tears starting falling down my cheeks as I read the message. I clicked on the attachment and nearly lost it. Staring back at me were two covers. Two covers for me to choose between. I stared for what seemed like hours at my name at the bottom of the images. I was so proud of myself. The beauty of them and the fact that I was almost at the finish line was almost too much to take. Fast forward a few more weeks I was on the bestsellers list on Amazon.com in their kindle department for women’s contemporary and urban fiction. My goal was attained and my spirit was pleased.
Most things that are attainable in life require work and dedication to have. You can not expect everything to simply fall into your lap just by wishing and hoping. None of this would have happened if I didn’t set a goal, then set minor goals to help me reach my goal.
Build that door. If the doorknob won’t turn, put in a window and crawl through it. Break it if you have to. There are so many opportunities out here if you simply get up and grab them. It’s hard work and you may want to give up at times but the ending reward makes it all worth it.
If you are interested in reading some of my stuff, head over to my author’s page on Amazon
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