{"id":747,"date":"2017-03-03T17:31:31","date_gmt":"2017-03-03T17:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/?p=747"},"modified":"2017-03-03T17:31:31","modified_gmt":"2017-03-03T17:31:31","slug":"creating-your-own-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/03\/creating-your-own-path.html","title":{"rendered":"Creating Your Own Path"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"forest-trees-path-moss<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDo not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.\u201d \u2013 Ralph Waldo Emerson<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We all start out having big dreams. We want to do great things with our lives.\u00a0 But somewhere along the way, many of us stop pursuing our dreams.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 It is because achieving our dreams seems impossible.\u00a0 We can\u2019t figure out how to get from where we are to where we want to be.<\/p>\n

Of course, some people have their paths laid out for them by others. If you want to go into the medical profession, and everyone in your family is either a doctor or a nurse, you\u2019ll have a lot of guidance as to how to pursue your dreams.<\/p>\n

But what if no one in your family has ever gone to college, and you want to become an engineer? What if you want to become a pianist, and you are the only person in your family with musical talent?\u00a0 How do you begin to pursue your dreams when there is no clear path to achieving them?<\/p>\n

You start your own path, and you leave a trail.<\/p>\n

When we don\u2019t know where to begin, the best way to start is with baby steps. That may mean reading about people who have achieved what you want to achieve.\u00a0\u00a0 Pay attention to their stories and consider the paths they took.\u00a0 It may mean saving your pennies to take a class in the field that you want to pursue.\u00a0 And it definitely means honing your skills.<\/p>\n

For instance, I didn\u2019t aspire to be a writer until 10 years ago. I am not one of those authors who knew from birth that they were meant to write.\u00a0\u00a0 There are no writers in my family, so pursuing a career as a writer was about as foreign to me as becoming an astronaut.<\/p>\n

So, I started small. I began by writing personal essays about my experiences as a wife and a mother.\u00a0 And I\u2019ve been writing ever since.\u00a0 At a certain point, I realized that my calling was to write in order to inspire people to discover God\u2019s purpose for their lives.\u00a0 So, I began writing about topics that I hoped would encourage others.\u00a0 Then one day, out of the blue, Beliefnet contacted me, and now I write a column for them. God works in mysterious ways.<\/p>\n

It is important to get started by taking those baby steps. I\u2019ve found that if you take enough baby steps, your efforts will snowball into something beyond your wildest dreams.\u00a0 You just need to start. And then you need to make consistent, sustained efforts toward you goal.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve achieved your dreams, don\u2019t forget to leave a trail for others to follow. Help boost the next generation along.\u00a0 Talk to younger people about how you achieved your dreams.\u00a0 Encourage them.\u00a0 I love to talk to my daughter and her friends about the importance of pursuing a career that they will love.\u00a0 Inspiring the next generation is one of the many responsibilities of success.<\/p>\n

Today, if you are struggling to figure out how to achieve your dreams, don\u2019t be afraid to make your own trail. Start with baby steps.\u00a0 Before long you will have blazed a path to success that others will want to follow.<\/p>\n

(Photo Courtesy of Pexels)<\/p>\n

Follow me on https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cDo not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.\u201d \u2013 Ralph Waldo Emerson We all start out having big dreams. We want to do great things with our lives.\u00a0 But somewhere along the way, many of us stop pursuing our dreams.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 It is because…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-path"],"yoast_head":"\nCreating Your Own Path - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/03\/creating-your-own-path.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Creating Your Own Path - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cDo not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.\u201d \u2013 Ralph Waldo Emerson We all start out having big dreams. 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