This song comes to mind when I think about my own dreams and goals. If you have asked me 25 years ago when I graduated high school (yes, hard to believe its been that long) what I thought I would be doing today - this would not be it. Don't get me wrong - I have a great life, 2 wonderful kids, an incredible man as well as family and friends who are always there for me but I had bigger plans - more career related then personal. To be honest - I let life happen to me. I went with the flow and didn't think about things from a personal standpoint. Was I happy? Sure - at some point along the way though I lost that. Can't say I can pinpoint the exact moment but it happened. Career wise - I thought when I graduated high school that I would attend college and get a great paying job and move up the corporate ladder. Well - I did attend college and earned my Associates Degree. It wasn't until 17 years later that I went back to school and earned my Bachelor's and Master's degrees. Trust me - it wasn't easy but I am thankful I did it - even if it took a while to get there - I'm happier for it today!!
So let's talk about you. Do you have a dream or goal that you wanted to reach and something happened that derailed you? How did you handle it? Did you throw in the towel or did you go back at it, with a vengeance, to reach that goal?
The Olympic games made me think about all the struggles and hardships the athletes deal with to get to the podium and earn the medals. Many of them work hard and fought, not only during the games, but in the years leading up the games, and they stuck with their dream and kept that medal in sight. What is inside them as individuals that pushed them to continue and not give up? There are dozens of individuals that you could look to as inspiration to help keep you moving forward.
Another thought comes to mind when thinking about this topic. I am going to take liberties and talk about my niece Bailey. She had a goal in mind and she fought until she got it. She is an inspiration to me and I will explain why. (I apologize in advance Bailey if I don't get the story completely correct but the principle of what you accomplished I hope shines through!!). We will go back to her first year in high school and she wanted to learn to speak arabic. A local college offered a foreign language academy that she applied to attend the next year. She was not chosen for that class so her senior year, she reapplied and was accepted. She then applied to the LROTC (Language based ROTC program) and was not accepted because the program only took a small number of participants from across the country. When she wasn't accepted - she didn't take this as defeat or that a wall was placed in her way - instead she enlisted in the Navy. During this entire period and boot camp - others tried to discourage her but she believed in herself and stuck with the it. I wish I had just a small percentage of the confidence this young lady has!! She is living her dream - doing what she set in her mind she wanted to do. She never gave up and is currently a CTI (cytologist) with the Navy. I will add that her brother, Riley, is no different. He has had some challenges thrown his way and he too is following his dream of becoming a Nuclear Physics.
My point is this - don't ever give up on that goal or dream. Keep pushing forward and if you run into a locked door - you have choices. Walk away and forget the dream, knock the door down or go through the dang window!!
“The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”~Rocky Balboa~
Gretchen
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