All of us get discouraged at times. That’s part of being human.

But if your heart is telling you to do something, don’t let the discouragement stop you.

Yes, rejection hurts.  It hurts to be belittled by the world or even worse, ignored.

It saps one’s energy, and one’s courage, to try and try and try and seem to make no impact, as if trying to move an immovable object.

But if your heart is longing to do something, if you have a dream inside you that won’t die, don’t let the discouragement stop you.

There have been times in my own life when I let the discouragement derail me.

Self-doubt is an inevitable part of the creative process, and during the hard times self-doubt can grow like weeds in the sun and spread seeds of discouragement everywhere.

Sometimes the pain whispers, “If it hurts so much, why are you putting yourself through this?”  Or “It will hurt so much if you fail, so protect yourself by not trying.”

But I have learned that what hurts more than the pain of rejection is the pain of giving up my dream.

The most painful times in my life have been not when my writing was ignored or criticized or rejected.

The most painful times of my life have been when I sat on the sidelines, telling myself, “Your writing is crap,” “You’re wasting time when you could be doing something productive,” or “I’m not meant to be a writer.”

I found that I couldn’t reject my dream without rejecting who I am. 

I came to see that I could live with giving it my best shot and never achieving my dream.  But I could not live with never having tried.

Occasional discouragement is unavoidable. It’s part of the price I pay for having dreams.  But letting the discouragement keep me from going for my dreams, that I can prevent.

So… whatever your dream is, if discouragement is getting you down, throw away the “dis” and the “ment”.

Take what is left.

Take courage, and begin again.