What If?

We all make decisions, daily, and sometimes they're good and sometimes they are a little unfortunate. We learn from them, and hopefully we don't repeat our mistakes.

Sometimes in our more wistful moments, we might think, "What if?" What if we had taken a different class in college, what if we had married the first guy who asked us, what if we took that job in California, what if ... what if ...

We often decide that we're happy where we are now. Each experience makes us wiser, and when we weigh our blessings, we realize that we are truly rich.

Sometimes, though, we're plagued by the "what ifs" of failure. What if we get rejected, what if we can't really write, what if we're meant to always strive and never achieve?

There's another type of "what if" I'd like to talk about today.

What if you woke up tomorrow morning and decided that you were going to tell everyone you met that you are an author?

What if you ordered a whole bunch of business cards and handed them out?

What if you gave yourself permission to let your other projects slide for an hour and devote some time to your story?

What if you changed the subject when your aunt started criticizing your crazy dream?

What if you held your head a little higher, walked a little straighter, and spoke with more confidence about your goals and dreams?

We can't control when we'll get a contract. We can't control who will accept our manuscripts or when they'll publish them. But we can control ourselves. We can choose to honor our talents and our gifts. We can choose to listen to our inner voices, to follow our guts, to reach a little higher and stretch a little further. We can choose to be proud of what we do rather than feeling the need to hide it. We can choose to look to the future with faith.

Because what if all your dreams came true tomorrow?