Dreams Really Do Come True!

So, I’ve spent a good bit of time contemplating what I want to be when I grow up.  Those of you who know me and who are thinking about my age…shame on you!  But, I get it.  One would think that by now I should know what I wanted to be when I grew up; much less, I should have achieved it by now.

Let’s examine some of those ideas for my adulthood.  I wanted to be an actress.  So I majored in Drama, which is now called Theatre.  Then I realized I really like to eat and since most actors starve for their art…well that idea went by the wayside.

Then, I wanted to be a lawyer.  My dad convinced me that I should go into union law.  But when I got to BYU, I changed my major to Radio/TV/Film.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.  I left there without a degree in either law or RTF, but I had a good time and met one of my favorite people.  Hey Angie!

I got involved in telecommunications with a short exodus to complete my degree in Speech Communication at USM.  I wanted to go into corporate training, but got offered a good job in telecom with the company where I had worked prior to my exodus.  That turned out to be an 11 year adventure, which turned into a lucrative consulting gig.  Alas, when telecom imploded around 2001, that avenue disappeared.

At some point during all this, I decided I wanted to be a writer.  Like anyone else who fancies themselves as a writer I envisioned a New York Times best-seller.  Then I learned more about the realities of the publishing industry.

Far from being disillusioned, I forge ahead.  And in hindsight, I made a couple of startling revelations.

In my current job, I write…a lot!  I also have to present from time to time about various topics, so I get to ‘act’ before my audiences in the hope of keeping them interested in the topics that may or not be in the forefront of their minds.  I get to argue policies and processes, so I have a bit of the lawyer in my job as well. I even have the opportunity to train other government communications professionals, which hits on the corporate trainer vibe.

The reflection being, I’ve actually met all those weird little goals I’ve set for myself over the years.

I still think I have that New York Times best-seller in me and I’m working on it weekly.  But in the meantime, I get paid to act, argue, train and write. THAT was a pretty cool realization!

So never give up your dreams.  I’ll bet many of you can look back on your lives and realize that they have followed your dreams more closely than you thought.

Keep working and keep dreaming!