Brandelyn: Lyrical Contradiction

I started my new job this week and so far I really like it. Anytime I get a quiet space, snacks, tea and access to the internet, I am all for it. Last night I had a lot of trouble sleeping. I have been stressing out about my life in general. Last Sunday Pastor Chris gave the analogy of our dreams being like a cake baking. I have all of the ingredients, mixed up ready to go, but lately I have been feeling like something is wrong with my oven because I don’t see the cake rising or browning or anything. So I have been a little frustrated with everything. Anyway, this morning, I woke up and there was an email from Tyler Perry that he sends out to his mailing list. I know I wouldn’t do it justice if I paraphrased, so I am going to paste what he wrote. It really, really encouraged me… so here it goes:

“When we won the Image Award for HOUSE OF PAYNE, I said something that I didn't know I had said until I watched the show played back that night. I said that if 1000 people tell you no and you get one yes from God then that's all you need to make it.
That thing woke up something in me. I realized at that moment that I had had a lot of NO's in my life. I had a lot of people say, "You can't!" and "You never will!"  I had a lot of doubters and hardly anybody ever said that I could. And through the hardest times in my life I had to learn how to encourage myself. And I want to tell you that if nobody else will encourage you then encourage yourself.
If you have a dream, keep working towards it. It's great to have people give you awards and appreciate what you do, but back in the day, it wasn't that way at all.  I remember when I was broke and working a dead end job clearing about 300 dollars a week. This wasn't long ago at all, as a matter of fact.
What I would do though was on my lunch break I would spend the time writing down play ideas, writing down movie ideas, planning a tour for my play, looking at maps of the country, calling theaters. I knew that I had ideas that would move people--that would help them in one way or another, so I just kept going. I didn't have a dime to my name. I didn't know how
I was going to get there, but I knew that I would in some way. And then God made a way.

In order to get to your dreams you have to see yourself there. You have to see yourself doing better. Use your mind to see yourself doing better. The Bible says, "As a man thinketh, so is he." Stir up the gift in you. People are waiting for your dream to come to pass. Don't give up. I often think about all the times I wanted to give up. I thought about how hard it was and how much I was going through. I look at my life now and I say to myself, "Boy I'm glad you kept going!" What if I would have stopped, can you imagine? No plays, no movies, no Madea, not even this email. Again, God has given us all gifts and if you give up on your dreams then the world will never know. We're waiting for you!”

Needless to say this was exactly what I needed to hear. I just have to keep moving forward. I know the dream, I know the promises so now I keep going. I will keep writing books and blogs and poems and whatever else I need because if nothing else this is my therapy as well. So there you have it. I hope this encourages someone else!

Peace Y’all

B