What Happens To a Dream Deferred?

Stop what your doing for a moment and think with me. There's something you've been thinking about doing lately, but you just haven't yet. Going to grad school, moving to L.A., going into a new field. Maybe you shared that dream with someone only to quickly be shot down. I feel your pain. I've often been accused of not knowing what I want to do in life. But the fact of the matter is, I know exactly what I want to do...EVERYTHING! All too often we allow the people in our lives to create our future. There's a quote I love by Tyler Perry that goes like this:

"When you start to dream and see yourself in a better place, don't share it with everybody. Long ago I stopped telling people my dreams because I would always run into dream stealers--people who are so miserable and so mad at the world that all they can do is bring you bitter words of hopelessness. Stay away from these people. They are poison." --Tyler Perry

Harsh, but true. Many times when we get excited about a new possibility in our lives we want to share it with everyone. However, nobody knows you quite like you do. The people whose opinions we care most about sometimes don't understand where you are in life and what your ultimate goals are. They don't always see things the way you do. How many times have you written off your dreams because you shared it with someone else who simply didn't see things your way?

Sometimes you have to follow your own instincts and make your own way. Don't let other people live your life. Langston Hughes once asked what happens to a dream deferred? I don't know, but I'm definitely not trying to find out.

**Editor's Note**
Thank you, anonymous. I stand corrected.

by Ciara