It’s Never Too Late.

Last week I had the opportunity to speak about my book to a group of senior citizens at a local church. It was my first “real” speaking engagement.

I have never liked speaking in front of groups generally…

…although I have no problem wearing spandex-y workout clothes and a microphone headset while I sweatily teach cycling to large groups of people, go figure…

…oh, and I did earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education, something that involves speaking in front of large groups, and taught second graders every Sunday for fourteen years, whatever…

…but I really don’t like being in front of lots of people.

Anyway, I was pretty excited to start with the Senior Group at this church because I was just a speaker at their monthly meeting, which is held in a cozy little room right off the church lobby. The ladies brought coffee and muffins and candies and donuts and other munchies, and in total fourteen of them attended that day.

I told them all about my writing history and gradually shared my story up through publishing my two books. When I finished talking, I asked if there were any questions.

One woman raised her hand. She told me that she had written a book and had been trying to get it published, but wasn’t getting anywhere: just rejections. She believes that this book, which is a work of nonfiction about a hot-button parenting issue of today and how she dealt with it when her son (now fifty years old) was a kid, has an audience. She said that it is her dream to publish this book.

Then my heart broke a little bit when she told me, “My kids told me to just give up on it, that it’s too late.”

My dear readers, it’s NEVER too late. If you have a passion for something, whether it’s a book you have written or any other thing you want in life, it’s never too late. Sometimes we don’t get a mental roadmap to our dreams until many years after we first envision it and sometimes we have to pave our own road, but it’s never too late.

If someone would have told me ten years ago that I would indeed become the author of two books AND a freelance magazine writer, I would have shaken my head and laughed like crazy. But I wanted it, and I went for it. I am very, very fortunate in that I have a stronger-than-strong support system around me, but I do know a couple of people personally who have achieved wonderful things on their own–because they wanted it, went for it, and clawed their way past all obstacles to get it.

You have to go get it. You have to ask the universe for what you want, and find a way to make it happen.

I looked at the lovely older woman whose family told her she should give up on her dream and I told her there’s always a way. If she can’t find a publisher who wants her book, she can self-publish. It’s not right for everybody and if you want to do it properly there is lots of research and work involved, but if she’s up for it, it’s a way to reach her goal. She CAN accomplish it.

So what about you? Have you been putting off achieving your goals because they seem unattainable? Too hard? Impossible? It’s time to make a plan. I’d love to hear about it.

Want to make this a long-term commitment? It’s my goal to get you to stick with me, long-term. Please subscribe to my feed by clicking here.

7 Comments

  • Ally Bean

    Interesting questions. I think for me it’s not the work involved in achieving something nor is it the lack of support group, it is not knowing what I want to achieve. If I could get some sense of clarity on that issue, then the how-to would fall into place. Or, at least, I believe that it would.

  • Grandma W

    I agree she should never stop to acheive her dreams. I have never found it to be easy to get things you really want in life. At least for me it has always been a struggle to get things that I would like to have. But I usually don’t stop because someone tells me not too.

  • Heather

    Liz’s comment made me LAUGH out LOUD.. She is so right. I needed to read this today, it made perfect sense to me right now. 🙂 You’re right- it’s NEVER too late.