From one of my Favorites

I am an avid reader of Pacing the Panic Room. I cannot really say what it was that particularly drew me to this blog. I don't have children (although one day, I hope I do), I am not married (I do have a pretty wonderful boyfriend, though) and I am the most amateur photographer you will ever meet (canon powershot is my tool of choice). It would seem as if I'm getting absolutely nothing out of this blog! However, Ryan (the author, dad, photographer, husband, etc.) is a fantastic writer, sharer, and image capturer. (I know, not a real word.) His pictures are truly inspiring, and he's not just photographing random crap all day. He uses his power for good.

Anyway, today he had some great insight into following your passion. It hit close to home for me, since I've been having difficulty as of late with my desire to become a nurse. I found myself utterly stuck this weekend, and sobbing like a big baby over the fact that I haven't even finished my prerequisite classes yet. This gave me perspective. It made me shut up and tell myself that a pity parade is getting me nowhere. It is time to get up and get going! :

"My best friend Devin told me once that pretty much anything you dream up that you want to do well, will take you at the very minimum seven years to become decent at it. Seven years of practice and education and pushing yourself to get better before you can even think about telling anyone you are good at it. I didn't believe him at first. I finally get it. Keep at it. That is what I tell myself every time I see inspiring images coming out of people and I feel like I am never going to get there. Keep at it."

So there you go. Don't try to look around at what everybody else is doing- it's distracting, unnerving, and overall unproductive. All that time you spend comparing yourself to others, or looking at what you have yet to achieve, you could instead spend getting there- getting to your destination.

Keep at it. You're doing just fine.