A note to the dream stealers

Here's a few words I'd like to send out to the dream stealers in my world. Following my artistic dreams and visions has caused a surge in their appearance over the years, especially recently.

What is a dream stealer? To me, they consist of those people who like to tell you how to run your life, what to do with your time, and that nothing you try is going to work. They consist of those who are jealous and spiteful, mean and negative. They consist of those who attempt to bring you down with crap when you're finally feeling good and you feel like you are making a difference in the world. They are those who like to get nasty as soon as you present the world with some sort of beauty and happiness. They are those none of us who are following our dreams need, desire or want in our lives. They are those who need to leave us alone, and go try to steal someone else's dreams. Or better yet, they are those who need to take a good, long hard look at themselves. Just because they haven't or are not reaching their dreams doesn't mean they have the right to try to destroy ours.

To the dream stealers (and you KNOW who you are!):

"A high school student's father is a horse trainer. Because the family has to follow the horse-racing season, he has to change schools frequently. During his senior year he is asked to write a paper about what his dreams for the future are. His paper describes his dream of owning a 200-acre horse ranch with stables and tracks and a 4000 square-foot home. He even draws a diagram of the property and the design of the house. He gets an "F" on the paper with a note to see the teacher. The teacher tells the boy that his dream is unrealistic. The teacher tells him that if he rewrites the paper with a more practical dream, the teacher will reconsider the grade. The boy goes home and asks his father what to do. "It's your decision because it's your dream," says his dad. The boy keeps the paper for a week, then turns it in again telling the teacher, "Here, you can keep the "F" and I'll keep my dream."(Jack Canfield, Chicken Soup for the Soul)"

To the dream stealers......you keep your negativity, demeaning comments, misery, and general nastiness - and I'll keep my dream, my happiness, and the beauty of life in my visions.

Jai