Do you still dream? No, I don’t mean do you dream at night when you sleep … even if you do, you might be like my husband, too exhausted to actually remember that you dreamed about being on the riding mower, chasing your favorite childhood dog into the Mexican restaurant down the street to sit down with your wife & three kids and watch Phineas & Ferb. Sometimes I wish I didn’t remember those silly dreams either! Ah, I digress…no, I mean do you “dream” about what you will be when you “grow up”, what your life will be like? Are you one of the rare people that still has an incredible vision for your life? Or are you like so many people…beaten down, exhausted & just “surviving” day to day. Did you, at some point, give up on those great dreams that you had as a child? My seven-year-old dreams of being President one moment & the next he will be a pro-football player, “for sure, Mom”. I encourage him, but I remember a time when a guy I went to college with said he wanted to be President & I basically rolled my eyes at him. Ugh! What a horrible reaction! Somebody has to be President … why would I roll my eyes? What a worthy goal! But at some point, for many people, some big bully, whether a “friend”, parent, teacher, coach or other “well-meaning” adult convinced us that our dreams were silly, not pursuit-worthy, or just down-right unreachable. At some point, someone wrote on my chalkboard that I was homely, I was too idealistic (that was a big one) and my dreams would never come true. How sad, that I have turned 40 this year & just realizing or remembering that I have the eraser to my own chalkboard! What did they write on your chalkboard? Too fat? Too skinny? Not smart enough? Not good at math? Too quiet? Too ambitious? What a sad state that we project our failures to reach our dreams onto others & spend time convincing them that the best way to get through life is to “manage your expectations” and “don’t get your hopes up”. As if a little disappointment in life is an emotion that we are unable to conquer and overcome. Now, don’t get me wrong … there is a time where realism should reign. Genetics, education & God-given gifts will determine some of our life’s fortunes & achievements. Playing anything that involved a ball and at least one other person was really never on my list of strengths & I’m okay with that. I’m great at individual sports! There is a philosophy out there that you can improve on your weaknesses by focusing your time & energy on them, and, I agree. But, I believe more strongly that your greatest results will come when focusing on your strengths & capitalizing on your God-given gifts. However, many of the dreams we have given up on are not at all dreams that are unachievable because of gifts we don’t have, they are just dreams we’ve given up spending effort & time to achieve because we have convinced ourselves that we won’t succeed, so why try? One of my favorite things about being in the direct sales industry is the realization that almost all of the dreams I have ARE achievable for me with a lot of dedication, persistence & hard work. Some of my dreams are routine … healthy, happy, generous children, a happy & fun marriage, a little “fun” money in the bank, college funds for the kids & vacation money. Other dreams of mine are what we called BHAGs at one of my favorite jobs. BIG, HAIRY, AUDACIOUS GOALS. Like replacing my husband’s income so he can do something he truly loves, instead of just heading to work to cover the mortgage payment & healthcare insurance premiums. Another is having funds to care for our family members, time to travel to see & serve the world, and more money so we can give more monthly to the charities that we love. My biggest BHAG is to set up a foundation to save children around the world from anything that steals their childhood, whether disease, dirty water, poverty, loss of parents, childhood labor or slavery. And, through this foundation to show them the love of our amazing Christ Jesus. For me to reach these financial goals I realized I needed a great vehicle & for me that vehicle is direct sales with Rodan+Fields Dermatologists. What are your “regular” dreams? Do you have some BHAG dreams? Your vehicle to achieve your dreams may not be direct sales … the point, is that you need a vehicle to get from where you are now to the achievement of your dreams. And, what to do once you’ve achieved your dreams? Dream some more. Dream bigger. Choose. Work hard. And smile at the possibilities for your life. I’m beginning to realize that we aren’t meant to retire … perhaps from a job, yes … but not from dreaming, or from living. We should always be dreaming & always achieving our dreams. Life is much more joyful this way.
Posted via email from Beautiful Skin with Rodan+Fields
July 30, 2010
