Believe It Will Come – Better Days Ahead

We all know there are some days that feel like the world is crashing down on you. There are terrible days when it feels like everything you’ve ever done has been for naught. Maybe today has been one of those days for you and maybe it hasn’t. Maybe it’s been one of those days for me. Maybe it’s been a long stretch between good days for us all, even years for some of us. But on days like these, it doesn’t matter how you feel about it. It matters how you decide to think and act on what you believe.

The difference between a survivor and someone who never gets up when they’ve been knocked down is in how they perceive the future. Even if they don’t see a silver lining, or even light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, they believe that there will still be better days ahead. Even if that brighter day takes years to arrive, they still anticipate it will come. They know it will. They – I – keep the faith that something extraordinary is ahead in the future.

Heartbreak and change can alter a person’s future in an instant, but sometimes the dull ache of today is tomorrow’s triumph. Losing a dream can bring the birth of a new one; the one that can make you happier than you ever thought possible. And that new dream will make you so content that your old life, yearnings, and dreams seem paltry in comparison with the things you know now; the things you would never have seen come to fruition had you given up when things got tough.

I’m no different. I’m certainly not preaching to the choir and taking credit where it isn’t due. I’ve had many days when I thought I might not keep going. I’ve had days when the pain was so much that I thought I might not be able to bear it anymore, where painkillers did nothing to dull the physical pain. I’ve had dreams die, dreams in which tutus and Broadway suddenly seemed too far away to reach.

But during those moments, those awful times, I never saw a novelist in the mirror. I never saw a storyteller taking form. That storyteller would never have come to be if I hadn’t believed in a better day and a better future, even when I couldn’t see past my pain. WAR MACHINE would never have been written and I’d still be crying in my soup if not for the sheer will power to survive.

Don’t give up. Don’t give in either. Keep on fighting and believing. Tomorrow will be a better day. Open your eyes to the smallest of blessings and the people who make your life worth living. Cling to your faith and beliefs with all you have.

Tomorrow could be the best day of your life. But you’ll never get to see its wonders and joy if you give in now; now will you?

Love and hugs,

Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel XOX

God bless you

To Struggle – An Admission (An Inspirational Post)

I have a confession. Sometimes I struggle.

Struggle – a word that I simultaneously love and loathe. It implies that I am less than able to cope with a situation or a problem. It makes me feel weak even admitting it’s something I encounter. But to struggle also implies that I am still learning, which is something that I love.

I never stop learning. New knowledge is something I am constantly seeking after with a voraciousness that cannot be quenched. I devour books, seek new vocabulary words whenever I can, and watch videos all the time trying to understand as much as I can about the world.

But still, even with all the learning I do, I still find myself struggling sometimes. It’s inevitable. Even the smartest of people find themselves on the edge of a very sharp drop sometimes and without a safety net under them to catch their fall. But this admission isn’t a condemnation. It’s meant as encouragement.

A lot of people look up to me since I have a fan base watching my films and also reading my books. There seems to be a notion that just because I’m out there on the internet and in the spotlight, that I have everything together and have the perfect life. And while that’s sweet of you all to think, I’m here to tell the truth.

No one is perfect. My life certainly isn’t. There has been a hell of a lot of days when my biggest effort has been to plaster a smile on to try and cheer people up. Physical pain hasn’t held me back from being a filmmaker or an award winning author either. Right now our film studio has been ruined because of toxic mold in our house and still my partner in parody crime, Peg Heron Heidel, and I both still are trying to navigate around this huge obstacle so we can cheer people up with our comedy. Even when we both feel like we’re dying inside, we still keep going to try and lift others up.

Many times it’s a struggle to even put our productions together, but one that is worth it when we hear how we made someone’s day or made them smile.

So what is my point here? It’s okay to struggle. Everyone does with one thing or another. I pray to God every day for His guidance and without fail, I live to see another sunrise. Life wasn’t promised to be without obstacles and sometimes we don’t overcome them on our first try. But the important part is that we get up, dust ourselves off, and try again. Because without the struggle to succeed, all we can do is fail.

Anyone who spits out the phrase ‘do or do not, there is no try’ needs to get their head out of their ass. Because without trying, there will never be a chance at succeeding. Yoda obviously never met Bruce Lee who was famously quoted as saying, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” Think about it. Without a first attempt at learning to fight, Bruce would never have become the legend we all know today.

For without the struggle, you will never have a chance at success or happiness. You will have given up before you even started.

May God bless you today in all your circumstances and may you triumph over whatever obstacles are in your way.

– Love, Author Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel

*Comment below and tell me about any obstacles you have overcome in your life. You may have a chance at having your story featured in a future inspirational post.

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Life Doesn’t Have Tivo – The Consequences of Virtual Reality

I am a rebel. I prefer books to e-readers. I live in real life as opposed to a virtual reality. I dance on my own time instead of running to the world’s relentless clock. I create instead of consuming creation. I write with a pen and paper before my fingers ever touch a keyboard.

We all have our own way of doing things, but I refuse to be a statistic lost to the ever consuming sea of advertising and technology.

Now don’t take this as an attack on technology. No, I see it as an aid to help with tasks, not a way of life. However, when I read these statistics, I felt I needed to address our future:

Technology is so important to Millennials that 53% would rather give up their sense of smell than their tech. Over 80% sleep with their mobile phone and 32% of millennials check social media from the toilet. A Nielsen report on Millennials found that more than 74% feel that new technology makes their lives easier. While 54% said that new technology brings them closer to their friends and family.”

The article from Forbes was on VR, that being virtual reality and how we as humans are embracing it. But as we tip into dangerous territory, we risk being consumed by the very things that we are creating. We all already know someone who is obsessed with their phone to the point we feel our presence in their life isn’t as important as their fixation with their tech.

My point here is that we cannot let our minds slip into the potential Venus fly trap that is our new ‘reality’. Technology is made to assist our lives, not become our lives. We are at the precipice of a very deep chasm and one that would be next to impossible to climb out of once we fall in it.

So the next time you see a beautiful picture of roses on social media, perhaps instead of hitting the like button I’ll instead ask you to go outside and enjoy their delightful scent in real life. Our world is not just a virtual reality. It’s not a picture, a video, or a blog post that we can come back to later once a moment has passed. It’s our reality and every choice shapes it. Be present in every second because once a moment is gone, it’s gone. Life doesn’t have Tivo. Life doesn’t have a pause button. But it does have a power cord that can be cut short at any moment. And there’s no plugging back in once the power has been shut off.

Love,

Author Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel

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12 Inspirational Writing Tips From History’s Greatest Authors (8 min read) — Millionaire’s Digest

Written by Millionaire’s Digest Staff Member: Amber M. Founder & Owner of: A Not So Jaded Life Millionaire’s Digest Staff Team, Author, Successful Living and Writing Writer 1) William Allen White – Journalist/News Editor “Substitute damn every time you’re inclined to write very; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” […]

via 12 Inspirational Writing Tips From History’s Greatest Authors (8 min read) — Millionaire’s Digest

I thought this article was a very good one for any aspiring writer to look over. But we all need to remember that as authors, we need to keep our own processes as well as try new ones. Copying others will not get us any further along than staring at a blank page will. Be true to yourself and it will come. But a little advice never hurt either, did it?

Have a very happy New Year and I look forward to hearing from you all in 2017!

– Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel (https://maggielynnheronheidel.wordpress.com/)