Everyone has a dream, but many of us lose sight of our dreams or let them go because of some early disappointment, rejection or lack of progress. Our natural tendency is to protect ourselves from getting hurt, so we deny our dreams, afraid to reach out for the people, resources and opportunities that could offer support. I want to share a quick story about my friend, Catherine Lanigan. Catherine's gift for writing was such that she earned a scholarship to Harvard. Once there, however, a professor gave her first short story an F, and she allowed herself to become convinced that she had no talent. She didn't write again for 13 years.

Then one day, back in her small Texas town, Catherine visited a movie set. When she expressed her long-neglected desire to be a writer, one of the scriptwriters shot back, "B.S.! If you wanted to be a writer, you'd write."

When Catherine explained how her professor had discouraged her, the scriptwriter replied, "An academic guy? What does he know? I write for a living. Tell you what. You go home and write something and send it to me, and I'll tell you if I think you have any talent in the real world of commercial literature."