It has long been said that a person without critics is without success. So in essence, that implies that in order for someone to be good at something someone else has to disapprove. What a fantastic idea! Behind every one who achieved a dream, started a business, wrote a book or got married, there is a person standing in the wings with a look of utter disdain on the face. What a very cynical world we live in today. I may not be on top of the world shouting my accomplishments from the tallest mountains, but I suppose I have made it far enough in my life to have a few disdainful looks being passed my way. Well to that I say, in all seriousness, thank you. I would not be who or where I am today without you.

When I was a little girl I dreamed of writing for the New York Times. I even made my own version of the newspaper with my name on the front page as a featured writer. I spent many years writing mock articles about anything and everything that came into my life. In my perfect dream world, I was not only a top columnist at the Times, I was also a bestselling author. As the years went by and I grew up more and more people insisted on telling me I’d never cut it as a writer. Sure, there were some people who told me I was excellent and should pursue it, but it always seemed like there were more critics than supporters. I appreciate them all though. You have made me the writer I am today.

Every time one of you told me I’d never amount to much as a writer I wrote two more things. For every snarky comment and every judgmental review I received I worked that much harder. I refuse to ever give into the critics. You will never break me and will never succeed in doing anything, but making me work 10 times harder than I ever did before. I may not be the best that ever lived or have a novel on store shelves, but that does not mean that I am not a writer. I don’t believe in giving the people what they want to hear. I will not write what everyone else is writing about. My goal is to tell a story and to get people thinking about subjects that aren’t mainstream. Let’s talk about books instead of movies. Let’s make conversation about real world issues instead of the current social media app that’s on top.

Thank you for always being the one to keep me pushing forward to my goal. I may have lost sight of it for a while and tried my hand at other things, but you brought me back home. I will forever be grateful to those who suggested I give it up and try something else. I took your advice and it only reassured me that I am meant to be a writer. I can still major in psychology and be a published author. History is full of bestselling novelists and award winning journalists who had more than one interest. In fact, I highly recommend it to everyone. Have fun with your future; develop more than one of your talents. In the long run, it will only make you that much better and give you a more diverse subject matter to write about.

In a lot of ways, I owe all of my success to you. You have made me stronger. You gave me a reason to continue fighting for my dream and a reason to keep going when so many times I wanted to give up. Thank you for being who you are. Thank you for not believing in me and giving up on me. You taught me the most valuable lesson of all. You taught me that I if I want something bad enough the only thing to do is prove the critics wrong. So, stick around folks, it only gets better from here.