Week 2

            This week’s reading contained a lot of personal stories of individuals finding their callings in life and making their dreams a reality. I never thought readings from a business class would bring tears to my eyes, but I stand corrected. The information this week was a reminder that failures are only what you decide they’re going to be. We can look at things that don’t work out as education and a place to move on from if we’re really determined to make something happen. Success doesn’t come to the lucky, it comes to those who are willing to dream, take risk and work hard.

            There was also a comment from Brother Perry in one of the discussion boards that talked about being wary of flexibility in being an entrepreneur that caught my eye. I can tell from my husband’s self-employment and the time that I spend there that we may have a little more control about how and when we work, but if you want to run a successful business you need to be invested and provide customers and clients with a relationship they can trust. And from my experience, if you’re going to be really successful, the sacrifices may occur far more than the flexibility that we dream of when we think of being our own boss.

§  Why do you think Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams?

Randy Pausch demonstrated true dedication. I think it helped that his parents obliged in their own ways to letting him be creative and expressive and that may have helped him not put boundaries on himself. I think that his thought that walls are not there to keep us out, they’re there for us to show how badly we want something was the key. If it were easy, anyone could do it and it wouldn’t be worth doing. Success and satisfaction come when we do something that we worked hard for and developed an extraordinary skill or talent. He worked on those skills and talents and persevered in the face of rejection.

§  Do you feel that dreaming is important? Why or why not?

For me, dreaming is essential. I love having plenty of time to look forward to things like vacations and other fun events. I love dreaming about how it will feel to sit in the sun on the beach or watch my kids experience a new culture. As far as business and my future goes, my husband and I also love dreaming about our future. What life looks like with a little more financial freedom or lofty goals. For me, dreaming provides one more motivation to keep moving in the right direction and anticipation of great things to come.

§  Discuss at least one of your childhood dreams. Explain why you believe you can or cannot achieve this dream.

One of my childhood dreams was to get an education that would put me in a field where I could work while I had children. I never thought too much about being a stay at home mom and although I got the opportunity for a big chunk of time, I love working and always have. I remember talking about careers in junior high and looking for things that would work well for being a mom and being home when my kids were home. Now that they’re all in school, working has become such a great outlet for me. The education that I’m currently getting has nothing to do with the jobs I thought of as a young teen, but the goals are the same and I can see that they are attainable. I also can see that my kids are resilient and I don’t need to be with them every second when they are home. I still want to be available for them at home as much as possible, but they get their own type of education watching me work for things that are important to me.