If knew then what I know now, where would I be?

Just take a minute and only a minute to ponder this question. If you spend longer than that you will take for granted the wonderful things you’ve done up until this point.  Thirty more seconds into your wonder, you will then believe that all the things you would have done, are no longer possible.

Seven years ago, in the minute I took to answer the aforementioned question, I felt that my dreams of being a successful interior designer or architect were just that. Dreams.  My thoughts took me way back to my senior year in high school.  In a conversation with my Grandfather, an architect, who hovered over me as I declared my major at University of Georgia in the fall of 1997  he passionately explained, “Everyone needs a money manager. Why be an architect? You will always be under-appreciated and underpaid.”

I was supposed to work in the family’s real estate business, a 25-year old empire he and my grandmother built on his salary and her schoolteacher’s pay. Who knew that five years later after that discussion, both of them would be dead and the company dissolved? Needless to say he scoffed when I defiantly entered the university as a pre-journalism major. Unfortunately, he wasn’t around to see that I did in fact graduate with a degree in Finance and Real Estate. Even after his death, I always did what he told me to do.

Your mind can take you a lot of places in just one minute, can’t it?

So getting back to the promise, here’s what I want from you…

Do not leave this Earth without at least pursuing the dream inside of you. So what if life took you on a detour? As long as you have breath in your body, you have a chance. Can I be honest with you? I work my ass off everyday. I didn’t work this hard in my corporate jobs and trust me, those were pretty stressful. I’m doing what I love and my past work experience has helped me to be the businesswoman that I am today. Before I transitioned into full time work as a designer, I considered my full-time accounting job to be a source of income to fuel my design business. I gave 100% at my job, but had other plans.

I resigned in 2008 after having my third child and focused completely on Erika Ward Interiors six weeks after his birth. I then started this blog in 2009 and had no idea that I would be also reigniting my passion for writing. My short-lived pre-journalism dream in college became a reality and another source of income for my family. Look at God! He’s awesome. You know I couldn’t write this post without giving him the praise! *church waving*

Now that I know you are excited about this message, and it isn’t by happenstance that you are here, I want you to remember this:

NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER.

Educate yourself. Take classes. Conduct informational interviews. Capitalize on your strengths. Believe in yourself. Stop spending so much time reading what others are doing, and be a doer yourself. Remember your path may be different that someone else…and that’s a wonderful thing!! Your unique perspective makes your testimony richer.  Stop being a hater and become a congratulate-er! And if others are hating on you, don’t spend time thinking about them. They are only distractions on your pathway to success.

In 2012, I want you to soar my friends! It’s not always easy, but it is ALWAYS worth it. Your obstacles help you to grow your faith muscles. A little resistance will make you stronger if you always push back. Persevere. Others are watching you, too. But they aren’t waiting for you to fail, they want you to succeed so they know that it’s possible.

Be hopeful while knowing that you are also someone’s hope.

That’s about it for now. I commend you if you are still reading with only one photo in this post. It goes to show just how serious you are about pursuing your passion.

Happy New Year Friends! Always wishing you the best.