Don't Wait for Dreams, Take Them

I think I have discussed this before on my blog, but I am a huge Big Bang Theory fan. Last week, the episode really caught my attention. One character, Penny, has been trying to make it as an actress since the show premiered, waiting tables until her big break. She thought it came when a popular detective show cast her as an extra, only to find the scene was cut by airtime. She, of course, was upset, and soon asked her boyfriend if he thought she would make it as an actress. He replied no, that she was great but so is everyone else. He said the odds of her becoming a huge star are so limited due to the competitiveness. Their relationship is obviously on the rocks, which is what the show’s focus will undoubtedly be. 

However, nothing he said was wrong. In fact, I have thought the same things before. Just a side note, I don’t think we should ever TELL someone directly this fact because it is depressing and can end many pursuits. I think I’ve also mentioned before a blog post by Jim Butcher a few years ago that said the key is to keep going. Despite this reality, you have to keep going. The key, therefore, is on many levels not about talent but about outlasting the competition. However, it cannot be denied that there are a lot of fish in the writer sea…and they are talented. I used to tell myself all I had to do was get noticed outside of those with no talent. This is far from true. Many have my talent or even better. The key is to outlast. 

This year, one of my friends posted something on twitter. She said she was tired of people saying they hoped the New Year would be great. She said instead we should say we are going to MAKE the New Year great. I like her spin on it. We are in more control than we think. I hear a lot of people say they are “waiting for their big break.” I have recently decided that this means they will be “waiting” for a very long time…unless they are very lucky. I’m not lucky. If there is a drawing for prizes at work, my name is one of the very last drawn…if they are drawing everyone. So, when people say that luck plays a huge role in success, I get very depressed. 

My proposal is not to “wait” for dreams to come true. I propose we make them happen. We do everything in our power to be successful. We do our research. We exhaust every avenue. We work, work, work. And, most of all, we never let people convince us that the reality applies to us. That is the only way to achieve any dream, whether it is acting, writing, sports related, or the next Nobel Prize winner. Let’s spend the next twelve months making things happening instead of watching them happen to others.