Live the Dream

It’s 3:30am and I can’t get a wink of sleep. My mind is racing excitedly with thoughts and inspiration for Live the Dream & Fortrias. A total 180 from where I was yesterday. You all probably think that because Blake and I work for a company called Live the Dream that we must be “living the dream” literally every day. The truth is, we’re just like everyone else. We have our ups and downs and although we do have our hands on our “dream job” it’s still a lot of work and we are faced with the normal challenges of building a company….

7:00am….still can’t catch a wink of sleep. Caught up on some very inspiring writing from Stasi Eldredge, author of Captivating. Sometimes a girl just needs to go through that work, one more time and gather up strength from the pages. I feel like a princess every time I crack the binding. Love and hope radiate off the pages and they take me back to my comment earlier, “A total 180…” 24 hours ago I was a princess in desperate need of a valiant prince, or at least some inspiration, to save me. I have realized there are definitely moments, days, sometimes even a week where I find myself treading water and wondering where to swim next. I know the dream I have my hands on but as I develop, it develops and I face instances where I can’t seem to fully grasp it. Or maybe it’s still just fuzzy, like when you’re building a puzzle without the picture on the box to go by, all you have so far is the edges, maybe a little blue sky but what else? A boat? A garden? A castle? I guess my point is that I, like many of you, sometimes don’t know where I’m going, even though I am the one that encourages all of you to pursue your dreams. If I have learned anything from my water treading sessions, when I’m trying to see over the next wake in the direction to swim next, it’s this: Verbalize to someone you trust and care for, someone who can help direct you, what it is that you are trying to achieve.

Find a confidant. Blake is mine. 24 hours ago when I couldn’t see past my own frustrations, Blake was there to listen (and women tend to tell a story when they try to express feelings so the poor kid was amazingly patient) and suggest a way to our next goal that I could not see. Sometimes the solutions seem obvious but they take another mind to help express them properly. That has been my case in the past.  Taking my own advice, that from Napoleon Hill, and writing down my goals has been crucial to defining what I am born to do, but being a big dreamer, I don’t always know how to fill in the blanks. So, I have learned a vital lesson here, to not be stubborn or too independent; speak positively about finding a solution and it’s ok to allow another voice, in this case, my husbands, aid in the journey. His advice came through just in time for me to start paddling with enthusiasm again.

My confidant, husband and warrior, Blake Kuhn. Sometimes he has to paddle for me while I look at the ducks.

I share this because I think sometimes it’s easy to just say, “shoot for your dreams!” And assume there will be no turning back, no slip-ups and no moments of frustration. First of all, that’s so far from the truth and second of all, where are the stories, the lessons learned, in that? I am excited to be living proof that you have to fall down sometimes to get back up and I am getting better at reaching for a helpful hand in doing so. That’s what makes the journey to success a journey. If being successful was easy, everyone would be flying to the moon and back, running 4 minute miles and curing diseases yet to be named. It is because of the journey and the sharing of it with others, that we write so many blogs on failure, excuses and adversity. We want you to be prepared. We want you to be excited to fail because it’s means you’re doing something right. It’s going to happen. After yesterday I’m excited to face more challenges because I know it will only lead to more solutions and more victories. My hope is that this encourages you in your adventure too.

Let me leave you with some words from Amelia Earhart, like me, I feel a lot of you may be building runways…

“Some of us have great runways already built for us. If you have one, take off. But if you don’t have one, realize it is your responsibility to grab a shovel and build one for yourself and for those who will follow after you.”