It has been one whole month since my book ‘April Lyrids‘ came out, and every time I look at the physical copy on my desk, it feels so unreal to me because until a few months ago I didn’t even think it would be possible. I did not anticipate the day when my work would see the light of the day as a published book. But here I am, talking about it after having received congratulations from about a hundred-something people in the last two weeks.
It still doesn’t feel real to me that I made something happen, and that my work is really published. Now, granted, the physical copy is only availanble on the Indian subcontinent, but my book is available on Kindle internationally, and I don’t think I have allowed myself to stop for a second and think about how big of a deal that is.
I don’t think that we allow ourselves to fully process the importance of our achievements until it is very late. You don’t look at yourself in the mirror and say, “Hey, you know what? I’m so proud of you for achieving the things you only dreamt about. You’re amazing.” Because we’ve been taught that appreciating ourselves is a narcissistic tendency. I think we need to unlearn that bit and remind ourselves that we are, indeed, amazing for achieving the things we never thought we could.
One thing I’ve learned from actually making something happen is that it is never going to be easy. I, personally, went through several months of anxiousness and a lot of rough days because nobody responded to my emails regarding what was going on with my book. At one point, I just wanted to ditch the whole thing and get back the money I had invested in publishing the book. It was the hardest thing to do, to have stuck around. I don’t think I would have made it this far if I had given up.
That being said, I am not saying that every dream is going to bring you hardship; just that you should be a lot prouder of yourself for achieving anything at all, starting right now, because you need to be able to acknowledge your strengths. You need to know that what you have done is a pretty big deal and that you need to be appreciated for it; if not by others, then by yourself. Because if you fail to stand up for what your dreams mean to you, who will? They don’t know how much of yourself you’ve put into your work. Only you know that.
If you’re reading this today, I want you to look at yourself in the mirror and remind yourself that your achievements matter. You matter. No dream of yours is too small or impossible. It may seem like it from where you stand, but so do mountains when they haven’t beens scaled. So do hills when they haven’t been trekked. You’re so much more than you’ve let yourself believe.
That changes today. Xx
Featured Image by Debby Hudson on Unsplash
The Shubhster Diaries 
What an awesome post! I think you’ve kicked ass and you should be incredibly proud of yourself. To write a book is massive and the sad truth is many people (me!) want to write a book and think about for years, without every writing a single page. You pushed yourself, fought through anxiety and kept going, not giving up when it got difficult. You’ll always have that achievement and hopefully it’ll power you forwards through other challenges in life because if you can do this, you can do anything.
Caz xx
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Thank you so much, Caz! This means a lot to me. Here’s hoping you don’t give up on your dreams and finally write that book you’ve always wanted to. â¤ï¸
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