Volume 14

Throughout my childhood, my brother used to constantly tell me that I live in a dream world. "You’ll never do that, Elana. That’s just a dream." It’s true -- I dreamt of big things. I believed that I could do anything and would do anything to help my family, who was always struggling to make ends meet.

But somewhere along the way, I let what others thought of me cloud my thinking, and I’ve been struggling to rediscover that big dreamer within me. This weekend I was reminded of the power of dreaming big. I took a sailing class with an old friend, who before this class had been on a boat exactly two times in his entire life. Conversely, I grew up sailing with my family, and the two other people in the class crewed sailing boats occasionally. At the beginning of class, our instructor casually asked us about our intentions. The two others in the group stated they just want to be more useful on sails out with their friends. I responded that I’d like to be able to captain sailing boats I charter when I travel. My friend paused after hearing us and boldly said, “I’m going to sail to Hawaii alone.”

This makes me smile every time I recount this experience. No matter where you are in life, a bold vision can open up an entirely different world. It honestly doesn’t even matter if you do end up accomplishing your goal -- your journey to get there will transform you and everyone around you. Heck -- I’m writing about this story, aren’t I?

What are the "crazy" things you've wanted to do? Perhaps you’ve put them off year after year because of the contrarian voices in your head. Educators especially tend to put everyone else above themselves. If you’re an educator reading this, now’s your time. Your dream doesn’t necessarily have to be this big fancy thing. Everything starts with one small step. Turn inwards to tap into what truly brings you joy, and take some small actions to make that come to life.

If you feel that you’re stuck in the doldrums of life (pun intended), take some time to plan something that’s out of your comfort zone -- something that makes you a little scared and excited at the same time. Mark Twain said it best when he said, “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than those you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

PS: Reply to this and tell me about a dream you have and what you’re going to commit to do to get there. And if you too, want to sail to Hawaii, reply to this and maybe we can all make it happen! :)

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