The old French definition of amateur is basically: A lover of. As an amateur — a lover of photography — you’ll be incrementally getting better and having fun (even while you make the requisite 10,000 mistakes). This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take your photography really, really seriously, in fact you should. You are perfect. I give you permission to stay in love. Don’t screw that up by “going pro” unless you absolutely can’t help it. You’ll just ruin it.