When Real Life Demands Real Courage

At least eight years ago, in a rare moment of courage, I made a list. I still carry it around in my purse, a three-by-five index card, hot pink, frayed around the edges, with a few simple lines of text under an audacious heading:

“Impossible Goals.”

Underneath, I wrote down my professional dreams, a list of five goals my heart wanted to accomplish but my brain assumed sat out of reach. Goals like securing a multi-book contract with a publishing company, being booked to speak at a major conferen...