No dream is too big … or too small!
I was sitting in Carolina Brother’s BBQ restaurant this evening, noshing on a pulled pork sandwich, dressed in my painters clothes, and generally looking like a mess, when all the sudden it hit me: I AM LIVING MY DREAM. Holy Cow. Let me scroll back six years for context.
In the spring of 2002, I was auditing GE Mortgage Insurance (GEMI) in Raleigh, NC as an associate auditor of GE’s Corporate Audit Staff (CAS). CAS was an incredible program – 2+ years of corporate boot camp, designed to make us all incredible leaders for GE’s future, where every year you did CAS brought you at least two years worth of hard core business experience. We had exposure to the highest leadership in each business unit we audited, and both the risks and rewards were high. What they didn’t clarify in the recruiting process was that the reason you got at least two years of experience for every calendar year is that you simply crammed 90-110 hours into every week – and gave up pretty much every other element of “normal life” in the process, ha ha ha!
One beautiful evening in April, 2002, I recall going out to one of the balconies at GEMI, right around 5:30. The cherry blossoms were crazy-gorgeous, the temperature was perfect, the setting sun was putting a magical glow on everything, and the parking lot was slowly emptying out, as employees headed home to dinner, their families, and whatever else they had planned for the evening. I WAS SO JEALOUS. Me - I had more work to look forward to, and maybe a sandwich from Panera, before I headed back to my sterile corporate apartment somewhere around midnight, to catch some sleep before getting up and repeating groundhog day again. I surely was feeling sorry for myself, thinking how amazing it would be to have a family and a home to return to, at a decent hour, with time in the evening to do non-work related activities. When would it be my turn??
Fast forward to today. I left the office around 5:30 to return to my own home. My cats both greeted me at the door, when they heard the Honda coming into the garage. I put on my painters clothes to give the trim around my door a second coat of fresh paint, chatted with my new next-door neighbor, then went out to Carolina Brothers for a quick meal, which completely hit the spot. I’m dating the boy I’ve dreamed of dating for 20 years, and we’re very happy. Now I’m writing my little blog entry, and later I’m going to putz around some more upstairs, perhaps catching a little TV before bed. This may not be your dream – but it’s mine, and I’m living it. I feel so blessed not just to be here … but to recognize it in the moment. Wow.
Action Challenge: Pause now and again to do a quick dream self-assessment. First of all, do you remember what your dreams were, or better yet, what they are today? Secondly, are YOU living the dream today? If so, take a moment to luxuriate in it and give thanks for all that is good in your life! If not, are there one or two things you can do today to start working toward fulfilling one or two of these precious dreams? They don’t have to be big or daunting … your dream may be as mundane as sleeping in your own bed on a daily basis :o) It doesn’t matter – it’s YOUR dream – go live it!
Cheers and all my best to you!
~Brooxi
"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."
- Walt Disney
© Stephanie Brooks 2008
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