By Ardain Isma

 CSMS Magazine Staff WriterI was 17 when I conceived my first poem. It was an acrostic poem crafted with the name of a girl I was madly in love with, but who was not ready to share my feelings. Because I was in love, the words needed to make the poem acrostic and utterly sentimental flowed like crystal waters from the Florida’s Citrus County. I presented the poem to my best friend Jean-Pierre, who was more experienced than I was in dealing with complex love issues.             I went to him for two reasons. First, I badly wanted an approval from someone before I presented the poem to the girl. Second, I needed a psychological boost to move forward. I won both from my friend, but that was not enough to win the heart of the girl. Although I succeeded in passing out my acrostic poem to her, it took me another two years to finally convince her that my feelings were pure, sincere and unequivocal.             Several years later, as we became husband and wife, she admitted to me that she was in love with me the first night she saw me, while promenading with her parents along the bay-front park near downtown Miami. She went on to admit that she was ready in several occasions to convey her shared sentiment, but she was refrained each time by my friend Jean-Pierre, the same friend who landed his tacit support behind me and who told me that “with these words so beautifully rhymed, the girl is already yours.” My wife went on to admit that my perseverance and my obtuse refusal to give up were what empowered her to overcome her doubts and to say “YES.”            Nothing else matters when one is determined to pursuit his dream—no matter what the obstacles may be along the way. Countless anecdotal evidences will prove that nothing of substantial values is achieved without sacrifices. We stumble sometimes in pursuing our dream, but it is those mishaps that ultimately shape our characters. The ability to rise from one’s falls is what will eventually catapult a dream to an awesome reality.You want to become the leader of the company you work for, or perhaps you want to win an important poetry contest, or bring to bear the greatest American novel. Unless you are prepared to go for the bumpy ride, you may never reach the Promise Land. Once you understand that failure is not an option, you’ve already won psychologically. If you want to be the leader, you must understand that you will never achieve this goal unless you master the skills to convince people to follow you. There is no leader without followers; and followers will not come if they don’t feel comfortable enough to place their trust in you. “There is an enormous difference between those who want to squirt oil on the machine and those who want to build new machinery,” says Roger Fulton in Common Sense Leadership. He goes on to say that “strong leadership can help design and build the new machinery with innovative features and outstanding workmanship.”Sometimes, it is perfectly normal that we allow our emotions to play a significant role in the fire needed to pursuit the dream all the way to reality. After all, who can live without emotion? We cry, we laugh, we scream, and we love. All these are part of our primary emotions that cannot easily be suppressed and are also easily identifiable. But there are also undeclared or unrevealed emotions that appear to be dormant, but in fact are very much alive within us.  These positive emotions are quintessential to fighting anxiety in times when crucial decisions must be made.You want to write this wonderful novel, but you are paralyzed by fear of rejection. You want to start a business venture, but you are torn between giving up the job security and the uncertainty that lies ahead as you are about to start your business. You go to work every day feeling miserable or feeling being treated like a slave at the service of a supervisor who wants nothing less than total obedience or your job is doomed. But the fear of the unknown cripples your energy to free yourself from this horrible situation.The road to freedom has never been an easy ride, and only those who are brave enough to take the necessarily calculated risks will live to see their dream of being free materialized. There is no life in one way. It takes great courage to fight and win. But once victory is secured, the feeling cannot be sweeter. So, it is time that you learn to be relentless in pursuing your dream. Stop dwelling on your fears. Success can only be built on strengths, not on weaknesses. Imagine what I would have lost if I weren’t relentless in telling my wife that my love was pure and utterly sincere?Note: Dr. Ardain Isma is also a novelist and chief editor of CSMS Magazine. He teaches Cross-Cultural Studies at Nova southeastern University. You can read a synopsis of his latest novel “Alicia.” Click here:  http://www.themulticulturalgroup.com/books.htmlAlso see Contemporary Novel: https://csmsmagazine.org/news.php?pg=20050626I9And see Best tips for emerging writersand also Helping our children understand the magic of academic writing