"Always Follow Your Dreams"

I came from a large family, I'm the oldest of seven children. My parent wasn't educated so, they took what ever kind of job they could find to make ends meet. My dad never really had a school education and my mom made it to the six grade. The non education status made me want an education so, I could do more with my life. Well, at sixteenand a half, my dreams became a distant thought, when I found out I was pregnant. That was the worse discovery of my young life.

I remember how I startd writing poetry at thirteen years old, and now, I was going to be a teen mom. Well, we didn't believe in abortions and if I carried the baby the whole nine months, I wasn't giving my baby to any one. I was going to keep her and I did. Having a baby at seventeen wasn't an easy chore but I loved my little girl and I was going to do what ever I had too, so we could survive.

I knew how to work in homes by baby sitting and cleaning houses at twelve, so I got a part time job and took care of me and my babie's needs. My daughter was also my valentines gift that year. The young man decided he would marry me. That is a whole different story of four children verbal and physical abused. Anyway, I had my own dreams but the first one that I longed for and wanted to obtain was my high school diploma. Which seemed to be so far out of my reach at the time. The thought of my diploma wasn't never far away, it was always there teasing and taunting me.

I finally went on a quest to obtain my GED, that along was going to be a hard task because of my deep depression that I was suffering. I really didn't know I had it at the time and I kept pursuing and failing my GED. I don't remember the exact count of me trying to get my GED but I only missed it by one point, on one occassion. Trying and failing was devastating to me but I never gave up. I would put it on hold and go back and try again. That's how hard I wanted it. When I the doctor told me about my depression, I got some help, but I realized that my mind was so busy I couldn't concentrate. But, I thank God that this year of march 2009, I finall after forty some years have a diploma. I'm no one's dummy, I achieved my goal of obtaining my diploma even if it did take so many years.

The thing to always remember about your dream is, it's only important you. Whether you succeed or not. whether you obtain your goal or not. There will always be circumstances, stumbling blocks and everything else that will make you throw in the towel. Just remember there is no victory in giving up. I got my diploma and I feel complete, I'm a painter that I didn't know existed in me, I'm a published writer and I make original design hand made jewelry. Life is full of surprises, tucks and turns and some of them aren't good ones, but if you have dreams for yourself, keep in them in front of you.

Never ever give up on your dream, no matter how many times you falter or fall down, pick yourself up and dust yourself off and try again. If you don't try, you will never know what you could have done. Make your dreams a reality. No one can do that but you, so full steam ahead.

Benny Faye Douglass