Dream Big

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you’ll land among the stars

I had this quote hanging in my sports locker all through High School.  I saw it before volleyball games and track meets. My teenaged-brained self thought it sounded cool. What teenager doesn’t want to conquer the world? I had big dreams and high hopes for my adult life. I knew I was going somewhere.  While I know I dreamed of getting as far away from Virginia as I possibly could, I don’t ever remember dreaming of a life for myself. In elementary school, I wanted to be an architect. I drew house plans day and night. For Christmas my parent’s got me a drafting kit. In 10th grade I had to write a paper about my future career. I pick a flight attendant. I could fly for free! I honestly don’t think I ever dreamed about my life in the future – besides getting away from it all.

My senior year, the Dixie Chicks released their hit song “Wide Open Spaces”.  I played that song like it was written for me. I sang that song at the top of my lungs while I drove around in my mom’s convertible and later my ugly green Nissan sentra! I needed wide open spaces.

Sing it with me! You know you want to!

Who doesn’t know what I’m talking about
Who’s never left home, who’s never struck out
To find a dream and a life of their own
A place in the clouds, a foundation of stone

Many precede and many will follow
A young girl’s dream no longer hollow
It takes the shape of a place out west
But what it holds for her, she hasn’t yet guessed

She needs wide open spaces
Room to make her big mistakes
She needs new faces
She knows the high stakes

She traveled this road as a child
Wide eyed and grinning, she never tired
But now she won’t be coming back with the rest
If these are life’s lessons, she’ll take this test

She needs wide open spaces
Room to make her big mistakes
She needs new faces
She knows the high stakes

As her folks drive away, her dad yells, “Check the oil!”
Mom stares out the window and says, “I’m leaving my girl”
She said, “It didn’t seem like that long ago”
When she stood there and let her own folks know

She needs wide open spaces
Room to make her big mistakes
She needs new faces
She knows the high stakes

Like every college kid should, I found my place in the clouds. I made lots of adult decisions, and I made a lot of adult mistakes. I learned a lot of life lessons. I found new faces. I searched for my place in the wide open spaces.

At the time, I felt like I was living the wrong life. I felt like I made a wrong choice. I had made a wrong decision. Now, at the ripe old age of 31, I know I was living my life. I had a lot of things I need to work through. I needed to reject elements of my life. I needed to stand up for myself. I needed to learn life lessons. I’m thankful that I demanded and clung to my independence. I’m glad I carved out a part of the world for myself so I could fail, fall down, get back up, succeed, and try again. I’ve failed again. I’ve succeeded again.  What nobody ever told me was that I was never failing. I was learning. I was defining my space in this world.

The life lessons don’t stop once the foundation of stone is set. My space continues to need definition. Life changes. Lessons are no longer relevant or valid.  What I know now, that I didn’t know when I was 20, is that life is one big success.  What I did know in my 20s, that I sometimes forget in my 30s, is that I want to dream big. I don’t want to give up on the idea that I am and can live my dream life. We all deserve to dream big and to live big. What defines those dreams can become our reality.

I don’t dream of wealth or money or fancy houses. I dream of a home for my family. I dream of practicing yoga with my family around me. I dream of running races as my family cheers me on. I dream of teaching people that life is about dreaming big. I wish I could tell every 18 year old girl (and boy) that she can make her own dreams come true. Life is hard. Life can be ugly. But life is beautiful. I dream about planting seeds of hope in everyone that I meet. Pay it forward. Pass it on. My life is good. It’s not sugar-coated, and it’s not perfect. My life is real. It is happy. It’s about growing as an individual and raising my children to be successful adults. I want everyone to know that their life can be their form of happy too.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the dreamer that existed in me at 18. I think those dreams should have the dust blown off of them now that I have a foundation to build on. At 31, I think it’s time to make them more concrete. I think it’s time I gave them shape. As always, my mind is a buzz with how to make this happen. I plan on putting things on paper over the next couple of weeks, and then I plan on letting the puzzle pieces find their way to each other.

The best way I know how to live my life is to dream big, make a plan for the dreams, and let life run it’s course. I’m confident I’ll end up exactly where I’m supposed to be.

Thank you Tasha for letting me bounce some ideas off of you today and for inspiring me to revisit old dreams! And JT at Smile with your Heart for always planting seeds of inspiration in me!