The Discovery of America isn't a clean cut, clear matter with a given day everybody agrees on. In Latin America we celebrate it on October 12th, which marks the day Christopher Columbus disembarked on the island of "San Salvador", later on called "La Española" (which has rolled around in the popular imagination as The Hispaniola, the Pirate Bounty Island), which is the island where Dominican Republic and Haiti are located. According to our history lessons back at school, Columbus did a total of four trips to America, which he believed was India, which is why the native people were called "Indians". It wasn't until much, much later that people realized that those "Occidental Indias" weren't India, but a new, freaking continent.
There are a lot of topics we could tackle about the Discovery of America and that's good, so I'll be able to write lots more in years to come (if I don't forget to write in time). However today I want to concentrate on the part of the proyect.
In order to discover America, Christopher Columbus requiered many, many things, some of them obtained by chance, others influenced by third parties, but also many of them - and maybe the most important ones - depended on him and his preparation. He wasn't a person with a higher social preparation or education, but rather a person that had been put to work from an early age. Inspite of it, he concentrated on educating himself, reading, absorbing knowledge. The project to go around the world to reach India came from this readings. It wasn't an idea out in the blue and running on it. The project came as a result of studies, of preparation and careful calculations.
To materialize his dream, Columbus had to do a lot of legwork, since he didn't have the means to get himself a ship and a crew to try out his theory (or hypothesis, depending on how you see it). This wasn't easy and he actually got ignored and rejected more often that anyone would care to count before Queen Isabel of Spain decided to back up his plan. Things didn't go offhill from here either, as the trip towards America wasn't bump-free, with the crew threatening to mutin against him when after many weeks into the unknown there was no land in sight. Up to the last moment before finding land, he had to fight to keep his project from falling apart. Once the result wa achieved, things went better for him, but most of the fruits of his labor were basically seized by Spain, who had provided the funds, the ships and the crew. In the end Columbus died in poverty, thinking he had reached India.
Lots of people have big dreams, big projects. They want to become singers or actors, want to become recognized artists, create a successful company, change their lives by quitting their jobs and joining a natural, balanced life driven by meditation or religion or their personal ideology. This is all fine, but for many the dream doesn't go past the dream, or it dies out after the first rejection. Dreams are dreams, so if you really want to act upon them, you should give them substance, researching the matter of your dream, learning about what you need to make it happen. If you want to be a singer, start by getting singing lessons and researching about talent agents and companies that could help you get kickstarted.
Preparation however it's only the first step. Then you must believe, you must own your dream, your project and push forward with it. Rejection is disheartening, but remember that you can take one million rejection, that only one acceptance can debunk them all. So don't let the weak defeat you, keep aiming for the strong. From personal experience I know it is hard and I know you can feel like rolling into a ball and not wanting to get up in the morning, but do it, try and remain positive, take a break here and there, fill up your energy and positivis reserves and then charge on again. It might help you think about Thomas Edison, who had to experiment many, many times (like 10 tousand!) before he finally got to make the lightbulb. None fo those many failures disheartened him or took away his drive. He kept on going until he got it.
The other one would be William Golding, writer of the prize wining novel "Lord of The Flies". He got rejected 80 times. Somewhere I read that he was actually told something like he had no talent or that his novel was unreadable. Well, there you go.
Rejection can't stop you, only you can stop you, so if you fight hard enough, and adapt your project rationally, on the flaws you find in the way, then eventually will get results. Don't prostitute your project to become a market pleasing product that loses it's original intention, but don't be so rigid as to refuse changing things that aren't really working.
So you get to the part where you get your results. Things are nice and lovely... but they may not be what you think they are. Keep your eyes open, keep on fighting because the moment you let go, you may end up getting ran over by your own dream.
Don't be a casualty of your dreams, nor make a victim of your inactivity or lack of muscle. Take a moment to think your dreams over and evaluate what can you do to make them happen.
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