Growing up in a small farming community in southern Minnesota, I didn\u2019t have many role models that I wanted to emulate. I did, however, love to read and books fed my imagination. Early on, I decided I would have a life that was adventurous, one filled with travel and interesting people. I spent hours imagining an adult life that took me around the world.<\/p>\n
As I got older, I quickly learned that it was wiser to keep those dreams to myself unless I wanted to endure the scorn of my elders. By the time I was ready to go out on my own, the dreams hadn\u2019t died, but they had dimmed substantially. I took the path of least resistance and followed the popular road. I went to college, taught English in a small high school, got married, became a civil servant, had a baby, was a stay-at-home mom, became an interior decorator. As all of these approved choices were being carried out, my neglected dreams started clamouring for attention. I did my best to ignore their racket, but the longer I did so, the deeper my sadness became. I turned to alcohol to blunt the pain.<\/p>\n
That all started to change when someone (an Earth Angel, I now think) introduced me to the exciting world of personal growth and development. At first, I just read self-help books, attended seminars and kept things to myself. As I got bolder, I found others I could share ideas with and the exploration was on. One day I realized that I no longer just had dreams: I now had tools necessary\u00a0 to build them. My new tool kit contained everything I needed to set goals, focus my attention, access my creative spirit, stay inspired, embrace adventure and start making things happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to live happily and free,\u201d said Richard Bach, \u201cyou may have to sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice.\u201d As I gave up boredom, my dreams got bolder and eventually I decided to start a little business. That decision was like enrolling in an advanced personal growth seminar. Not only did I learn about entrepreneurship, I continued to discover new possibilities within myself. There were and are many days when I\u00a0 am almost giddy with amazement.<\/p>\n
\u00a0There\u2019s an old poem or story that goes, \u201cFor want of a nail, the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe, the horse was lost.\u201d Little things add up, it reminds us. That\u2019s how I feel about the tools that took me from being just another dreamer to being a dreambuilder whose life is perpetually under construction. For want of a few simple tools, my dreams were almost lost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0What\u2019s profoundly exciting is that these tools are available to anyone who wants to reclaim their dreams and use them.<\/p>\n
So we\u2019ll be talking tools this month at Buon Viaggio<\/em> blog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Growing up in a small farming community in southern Minnesota, I didn\u2019t have many role models that I wanted to emulate. I did, however, love to read and books fed my imagination. Early on, I decided I would have a life that was adventurous, one filled with travel and interesting people. I spent hours imagining…<\/p>\n