Friday, October 19, 2012

Never Stop Dreaming!

When I was little, I used my imagination ALL the time. My friends and I were ALWAYS pretending we were this or that…always dreaming. I remember all of the Disney movies and songs that tell us “Dreams really do come true!” What ever happened to that??

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As children, we have BIG dreams; and as we get older, they seem to fade away. I think sometimes it’s because other people start telling us it’s time to grow up and become step into “the real world.” We see so many others who have given up on their dreams, and that is discouraging to us. Little by little we stop believing and eventually they just “go away.” People make dreaming seem childish, immature, and unrealistic….and as we get older we’re almost embarrassed to share our dreams with other people.  We start to accept ‘normal’ and our new reality, which may not be anything close to what we dreamed of as kids.

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I can’t tell you how many adults told me when I was a kid and while in high school and college to “Enjoy this while it lasts- these are the best years of your life- just wait till you get to the real world!” How incredibly discouraging! Don’t get me wrong…I absolutely LOVED my childhood. I LOVED high school. And I LOVED college. But you know what?? I feel like my life keeps getting better! I LOVED being a newlywed, and now I am beyond excited to start a family and enter into parenthood!  I think it’s super important to be IN THE MOMENT and enjoy each phase of life….they all pass so quickly, and they all have something special and unique to offer. People are either rushing us into the next phase or telling us the best years of our life have already passed. We just need to stop listening to that junk.

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So here’s what I think.

I think we need to start dreaming again!!!

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Why not go for what others think is “unrealistic?” I’m okay with not being a part of reality….Because here’s what I know about reality.

 Reality is that 86% of people HATE what they do and are miserable with their jobs. Reality is that MOST people don’t get paid what they’re worth and aren’t fulfilled or doing something they’re passionate about. Reality is that 60% of all marriages will end in divorce, and the #1 reason for divorce is financial struggles.

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I’m certain that none of us dreamed these things for our lives when we were little. Imagine if we’d gone after what we REALLY wanted out of life instead of settling for what we think is ‘normal’ and ‘realistic.’ We just accept that and think everyone else is afforded better opportunities…have better luck…etc.

I know for us, we were taught that you work your TAIL off, get another degree, add another job, etc. Six months ago, we were working 3 jobs each so we could save up enough money for me to be able to stop teaching when we were blessed with children. That was/is our dream. So that’s what we did. Jonathan is in construction, and I am a teacher. We both worked normal full time schedules, and he was always doing side jobs after work and on weekends, and selling wheels and tires to make extra money. I earned my Specialist’s degree because that’s what everyone told me to do, and after teaching all day, I would do pitching lessons/clinics after school, teach camps in the summer, and do some small photography on the side.  We were extremely tight (other than our vacations….that’s our splurge….work hard, rest hard!) and saved every penny possible. But we had NO TIME.

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Thankfully, the Lord put Advocare in our paths….and we have started dreaming again. We have been blessed to be able to eliminate 4 of our 6 jobs, which means we actually have time to spend together. After this school year, 5 of the 6 of them will be gone, and we’ll have accomplished our dream of me staying at home to raise our sweet babies. We still believe in hard work, but now we are able to get paid what we’re worth, doing something we LOVE and are passionate about- changing others’ lives through improving their health and finances.  Not only is it extremely fulfilling, but it is also something we get to do together and have a BLAST doing!!!

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We have had a few haters, people trying to shoot us down, tell us it won’t last, etc. But there is NO WAY we will listen to them after what we’ve already seen it do for our family.

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I know I’m specifically talking about careers and finances here, but I have another example. One of my girlfriends just ran her 2nd FULL marathon! Woo hoo- do it girl! That is awesome and a feat in itself. Somebody had the audacity to tell her that it wasn’t even worth trying to qualify for Boston because it wouldn’t happen….it’s too hard. REALLLY? Who in the heck is HE to tell her what she can and cannot accomplish? Other people do NOT control our dreams or their outcomes, so if we let what others say deter us, that is nobody’s fault but our own. And Kara, if you’re reading this girl, you BETTER GO FOR IT!!!!! You can ABSOLUTELY do it.

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(Okay, maybe not the GREATEST pleasure, but it sure does feel good!)

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Whatever it is you want out of life, GO FOR IT!!!!! It’s not too late. As long as you can be tough enough not to let other people get in your way, you really can accomplish whatever you set your mind to.

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14 comments:

christa said...

Awesome post. Also congrats on baby Butler. I guess I am a little behind on blog reading and I missed the announcement. So happy for you two.

Elizabeth @ Southern Color said...

Congrats on the start of your family! And thanks for such a positive, uplifting message. Enjoy the weekend :)

Morgan Neal said...

Amen sister!

Nikki said...

I love you and your optimisim! Your an amazing woman and God is gonna do HUGE things with you!

Elizabeth Drucker said...

Great post! As the mother of a two year old little girl I hear the Disney princesses talking about their dreams a lot and if this little one is a girl you will too in a few years! Being happy where you are is so important. I can honesly say I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life. I think I say that at every stage. :) Once this sweet baby gets here you are going to find a new level of happiness and love. Just enjoy the ride!

Emily said...

LOVE THIS!!!!!!
It's so true...we never have to stop dreaming and THESE are the best years! And the years after these? Well those will be the best years too :)

Kate said...

Love this!

Chelley N said...

I've read for a while, but never commented. I LOVE this post!!! You ar so right that the mentality of the best years being behind us is ridiculous! My husband and I DREAMED of having a family for over 6 years. There were several who told us that we should succomb to the reality that it was never going to happen. But guess what? We now have TWO beautiful babies of our own because we never gave up on God and our dreams.

Thanks for ALL the encouraging posts that you write. And congrats on your pregnancy!

Meagan said...

So inspiring! Loved reading every word :)

Cayla said...

New reader here. LOVE how positive your blog is! It's such a great pick-me-up and inspiration. Thank you for being YOU! I'm so glad I found your little blog world. Congrats on the baby, how exciting! Happy weekend :)

Stefanie Ray said...

I recently found your blog this past summer. I cannot tell you how inspiring you have been for me. It is so rare to find such a wonderful woman of GOD sharing her passion so boldly! It has inspired me to start being more bold in my walk with GOD!!! Thank you for each and every post! This one especially, I typically let other get the best of me in the negative comment area, I let them tell me I cant do it, and then in turn it becomes my own voice in my head saying I cant do it. I jsut recently finished my second Half marathon this past weekend, and I want to go for my first Full next fall, and I was starting to second guess myself until I saw this post this morning!! You gave me the push to say you know what I can do it, and the push to keep going in the direction GOD has led me!!! Thank you so much for all of your inspiring posts!! CONGRATS ON YOUR SWEET BABY!! I CANT WAIT FOR ALL OF THE WEEKLY UPDATE ON YOUR PREGNANCY!!!!!! HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!! GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND!!!!

Anonymous said...

What a great post! It was right on time! Thank you for being an inspiration and for letting God use you to touch the lives of others.

bnfunky said...

You always have a timely word. I love it!

Anonymous said...

Thank you - I needed this!