There was a young boy in the early 1800s in England who got very little formal education.  His father was imprisoned for having debts when the boy was 12 years old.  The boy got a job in a shoe polish factory and lived in a tiny room while his mother and other siblings joined his father in jail which was the practice at the time.  

He loved to read and write and had big ideas and dreams.  But the poverty was overwhelming.

One day he submitted a story he wrote to an editor.  It was creative enough to get published!  The author was listed as anonymous and he was not paid for it but it lit a fire in him.  And it was the beginning of an epic journey.

That boy was Charles Dickens.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

When I heard his back story I looked over at my bedside table and saw the book A Tale of Two Cities waiting for me to read.  Tears came to my eyes.

That boy had everything against him and he still had the strength to follow his heart.

We should all do the same.