Kirk Nugent

Someone else’s opinion of you is none of your business and someone else’s belief in your dream is not a prerequisite for you to achieve your dream. In life, you’ll find that whenever you’re dreaming BIG, or engaged in any outside the box thinking, the first people to run along and attempt to kill those dream are friends and family.

I don’t believe that this is a malicious attempt to slaughter your greatness, I just believe that they’ve played it safe for so long that they cannot fathom any risk taking. Most people look for security, not opportunity. Study the lives of anyone who has ever achieved anything great and you’ll find that they were never security seekers, they looked for opportunity.

Be willing to break traditions in order to achieve your greatness. I came from a Jamaican tradition where it was encouraged that you work several jobs at a time, struggle to make ends meet, save what you could and eventually be able to afford some sort of slice of the American pie. That is great, but none of it appealed to me, so needless to say I never held a job for more than a few months. I would earn just enough to leave and start one of my BIG dream ideas. My family members, not understanding what I was doing, would ridicule me. I would come home unexpectedly and hear my mom on the phone complaining to her church sisters, “Yes, he left his good job to go and do such and such…” I was told that I lacked ambition. It was rumored that I was on drugs because only someone who was doing drugs would leave a ‘good job’ and behave in the manner in which I conducted myself.

I would enthusiastically share my idea with my sister and she would reply, ‘Kirk, you’re always dreaming, talk to me when you’ve accomplished something!” And of course I would walk away feeling like NOTHING!

But even though those statements left deep emotional wounds, they also served as fuel to push me towards my destination. I vowed, “I’ll make you eat those words!” But the fact of the matter is, as you keep on pursuing your passion, you get so caught up in the dream that you forget about what’s being said. As you pursue your passion, you begin to grow a thicker skin. You find the negative comments to be comical, so you press on with a sense of humor.

Initially it is very difficult to move forward, especially when you feel that the people who are going to benefit the most are the ones who are trying to kill your dream. Please don’t be discouraged. We need you and your unique dreams, your original way of looking at the world. It’s courageous people like you, who are willing to stand firm in their beliefs that will light the path and inspire us all to be the best that we can be.

Below is a letter that I wrote in my journal to my mom almost fifteen years ago when I had just started on the road towards my dream. I was broke at the time, had just had my son, was struggling to buy pampers, and life was really difficult. I never gave the letter to her, it was just me writing to sort out my thoughts. I am sharing, because I want you all to know that, yes, there will be bumps in the road…press on regardless!

With great love,
Kirk

A Son’s Letter to His Mom

11/21/92

Dearest Mom,

There comes a time in Life when you have to drop your burdens and fight for your dreams. Mom, as far fetched as it seems, that time is now! So when the bills pile up and the collectors call, please don’t ridicule my existence.
My eyes are focused on a far greater goal. I’m not as carefree as you perceive me to be. The problem is that you’ve only read about, but you’ve never seen faith this great, so you interpret it to be a lack of responsibility on my part. Believe it or not, I plan ahead far more than I’ll ever be credited for. You see Mom; I’ve observed this confusing world of ours and one thing is evident. You can either live your fears or you can live your dreams. I choose not to live my fears!

I see people who because of the fear of living their dreams, the fear of being ridiculed, the fear of failure, the fear of the unknown, the fear of venturing forward, the fear of not pleasing their parents or their spouse, they sold their souls for two, three, four, five hundred dollars per week.

I refuse to let go of my whispering heart’s desires. I’d rather be ridiculed, laughed at, scorned and ostracized than live my life in quiet desperation. Why should I worry about loosing a grain of sand when I have the ability to own the beach? We all posses this divine quality… greater is he that is within me, than he that is in the world. Don’t love me more because I appear to be successful or like me any less because I’m not! Who cares where I am right now? Look! For God’s sakes look where I am going. With all those bible studies you should be able to recognize when someone is walking by faith and not by sight!

I choose to march to the beat of a different drummer. I refuse to go where the path leads, instead Mom, I’m going where there is no path and I’m leaving a trail. It takes a million years for a lump of coal to be fully appreciated – why? Because we tend to overlook it’s potential.

Mom, if I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t even try to explain this to you. This society is extremely materialistic… don’t get caught up in it.

Take time to appreciate the things that money can’t buy. I’m not saying that there is some sort of virtue in being broke; however ponder this question for a minute. How would you feel if after all that you’ve given me, after all that you’ve done and sacrificed for me, I should choose to dwell upon only what you didn’t do or what you didn’t give to me? How would you feel? Now, how do you suppose God feels if after all that he has given me, Life, health, food, clothes, shelter, a healthy son, guidance, protection, mercy, forgiveness and salvation, I should choose to dwell on all the materialistic things that I don’t have? I hope that you like the taste of adjectives, nouns and verbs, because give me ten years, and I swear, you’ll be eating your words!

Think about it!

Your son,

Kirk

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