To Dream was a thing when we were little. We would hear bedtime stories of Princesses, Knights, Castles, and wonderful Kingdoms where everything was beautiful and everyone had a blissful existence. The stories always ended that “they lived happily ever after”! The fair maiden got her magical prince charming and they road off into a beautiful sunset together!
Then we grew up! We were told over and over again, “Stop Dreaming”! “You need to be more Realistic”! “Your mind is in the Clouds”, “You need to get a grip on Reality”! Sound familiar? When did we actually change our mindset? Was it about the time we stopped believing in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. Maybe 7 or 8….10 years old at the most?! Dang for most of us, that is a long time ago! Why did things suddenly get so harsh? As teens do we lose our idea of hope? I think that is when we grow and learned who we are! Who that person is in the mirror we look at daily! Or was that when our self-doubt set in? I don’t think anyone knows for sure!
Does History Limit our Dream Ability?
In the history of the United States and many other countries, devastating times were experienced for over twenty-five years. This period was between 1920 and 1945. This not only affected the economy of our country and many nations around the world due to the great depression, but World War II brought the intended destruction of Humanity. Atrocities were committed that should always be remembered! So as never to recreate such hatred and loss of life ever again! Was it during this devastation that we stopped Dreaming?
I am Jewish and very proud of my customs and heritage. It saddens me that we are presently losing many of the survivors of what we now know as the Holocaust. Over a thousand German Work-Camps were created during the war to be used for experimentation, and “slave” labor for the elite Germans and the officers of the German Richt. Their mission was to eliminate all people that were not of pure Arian race.
These camps were responsible for emprisoning over 1.65 million people. And where over 6 million Jews were killed in the gas chambers housed in Dachau, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek, and Auschwitz ( some of the more memorable “Extermination” Camps). I am happy to say that I did have relatives that were survivors, but the most memorable of my family and the most humble was my First Cousin Emanuel Ravet. Manny was among the liberation forces in 1945 that stormed into Treblinka Death Camp and helped liberate its captives.
We Must Remember
Although this legacy is Horrific, it is one that needs to be shared with generations to come so the travesty never happens again. Hense several Holocaust Museums have been created around the world in order to never forget the atrocious acts that have been unveiled against humanity. The Israeli Museum was particularly moving for me! Whereas the newest Museum in Washington DC even includes an area to commemorate the genocide in Sudan!
Yom HaShoah (יום השואה) is the International Day of Remembrance (Observed in mid-April by the Gregorian calendar). When in Israel the commemoration opens at sundown on the 27 of Nisan, in Warsaw Ghetto Square at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes Authority, in Jerusalem. I have been to many Holocaust Museums. It is not easy to travel through each of the many rooms and be exposed to the terrible experiences the people were forced to live through. However, it is important for everyone to visit these locations and REMEMBER the millions that died, so it never ever happens again!
Leave the Nightmare and End Up In Kansas?
Well, our imagination was revived and the Dreams began once more! A new Golden Age was ushered into the world with Technology and a New Era of Cinema! Television became the new family venue with those huge tubes in a box! We were again exposed to new Heros that the world so needed: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, The Lone Ranger and Tanto, and Zorro! We were taken away from the beloved radio shows and introduced to new entertainment like the Ed Sullivan Show, Jack Benny, The Honeymooners and…oh yah…….The Beav (Leave it to Beaver)! And everyone fell in love with that little girl, Dorothy, and her tiny dog, Toto! Who ends up in an amazing dream of her very own in the magical land of OZ, “Somewhere over the Rainbow”.
And don’t forget:” Look! Up in the sky! Is it a Bird? Is it a Plane? Yes, it’s Superman! Strange visitor from another Planet, who came to earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal man! Superman! Faster than a speeding bullet, More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Superman, who could change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands! And who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan Newspaper! Fights a never-ending battle for Truth, Justice, and the American Way!”
Even Shirley Temple got on the “Good Ship Lolly Pop”, and the little rascals amazed us all with their crazy adventures. How many of us Laughed out Loud when we heard, “Lucy, I’m home!” Those were the early days that brought us back and allowed us to dream again!
Do You Have Dreams?
Martin Luther King had a Dream! “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”. So we went from the 19 50’s of happy, playful, even humorous technical improvements. Only to create another state of political and social unrest in the sixties!! Are the dreams always to make life better, or to settle a score? To give equality? Basic rights are so important and our forefathers had no idea where our nation would be in the millennium, let alone 20 years later where we are today!
Can comedy play a part in bringing us back to a positive state? My thought is that humor tends to soften the blow of yucky things happening. It can be a sort of coping mechanism and allows you to laugh. And let’s face it, wouldn’t you rather laugh than cry? I think we have all heard “laughter is the best policy”! It is also a mindset. Our minds are so powerful and we seldom give ourselves enough credit. We need to realize that what we think will happen; w i l l h a p p e n !!!!! Whether it is a positive or a negative expectation.
People need to choose to be happy and put a smile on their faces. Nothing lights up a room better than a person smiling at you! We all need to have a more positive outlook on life. We should share positivity, not gloom and doom! When people ask “How are you”? They do not expect the answer to be a long list of complaints! Not many want to hear that! My general hope is that the person is doing Great or even Fantastic! Happy people draw other happy people to them. We tend to hang with those like ourselves; so let’s push for positivity and make positive things happen!
Are Dreams Attainable?
Short answer, “You bet your sweet patooty!”(direct quote from me!) But people seem to get that fantasy thing confused with reality. Certainly, we can plan to achieve things in our life. Is that not a Dream? From the 1950s to the mid-’70s, they called it “The American Dream”! The picture was painted, to marry, have a house with a little white picket fence, a dog, and 2 children. Was that wrong? Was it enough? We have moved far past that and things have changed so much since those idyllic days.
Stock Market, Economic crashes and housing market collapses topped our latest news headlines since the Millenium. So many people seem to be living just to get to their next paycheck. Unemployment has been on the rise and then we had a dang virus that came out of nowhere and put the world on its proverbial ASS! Our world and the entire environment definitely have been less than perfect of late! This however is the perfect time to reach for those Stars as Don Quixote says in the “Impossible Dream”! Make them reachable! Plot the course to achievement! I used to tell my kids when they were growing up; “You should be like NIKE: Just DO IT!!” In other words, if we do not take action, nothing will happen. We must move forward in order to attain or accomplish anything.
Dreams need to Start Small
Many need to realize change must occur in order to move forward. You cannot just sit back and hope that things will happen to you. You must do the change. Albert Einstein told us: “The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting different results.” Will Rogers gave us another thought that I have put to the left. But all this wisdom leads us to the idea of Dreams. Our Goals, our achievements, so we need to move forward, but where to start? I think we heard Julie Andrews tells us: “Let’s Start at the Very Beginning. It’s a very Good Place to Start”. Hense figure out what you want to accomplish and what steps it would take to get there. Then move forward down that path. Don’t sit on the track and get run over…..MOVE!
For example, one of my goals this year is to build up my stamina. For those of you that know me, you know I am on oxygen 24/7. Not really something I am excited about, but it is my reality. I am determined to make it a positive thing. After all, O2 keeps us alive! But I realize there are things I should be doing that can help me improve my breathing and allow me to live a better life. So I literally need to move more, physically. I need to take baby steps and continue to move the goal a little further and further until I reach my finish line.
Plan your Work, and Work your Plan
- I am going to walk to my car and back 4 mornings and 4 evenings weekly (I live down a long walkway that leads to a parking lot where my car is parked)!
- After 2 months I will double the walk to the end of the parking lot and back.
- Then if I am comfortable doing this after 3 months, I will walk to the next parking area which doubles my journey again.
- Now I should be in Aug Which is 1/2 way to my goal. My next milestone is to the last parking lot before the office of my complex.
- This will allow me to reach my goal by November. To finally be able to walk to my post office to get the mail 4 days a week!
So as you can see by my example, I need to keep moving. If I want to reach this small goal, I must plan what it will take to break down each step. Right now just the idea of walking to the post office makes me tired just thinking about it. But this plan will allow me to do it gradually and build up the habit of walking a little every week. I cannot accomplish my goal if I do not take the journey. I once heard someone say: “If you are persistent, You will get it! If you are Consistent, you will keep it! That is certainly what I want to do in my life! Keep everything I can get!
One of the first things to actually start is to identify what needs to be done and write it down! Say it out loud or tell someone! You are affirming your commitment and putting it out in the universe. I can visualize getting my mail. I have actually done it before, but it took me more than 40 minutes to get there and I had to rest all along the way, then I still needed to get back home. Took almost an hour to get back and it was exhausting!
Dreams touch different Areas of Life
That most definitely was a personal goal. I have many other smaller goals that I have thought about for work. The main overall huge goal is to be successful! But I need to have many things in place to get me there. Someone once asked me: “How do you eat an Elephant”? I need to break this overall inclusive idea into bite-size pieces, so I am able to achieve this DREAM!
I learned a while ago that we must be S.M.A.R.T. when setting our goals! It is an acronym for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Bound. so my equation to establish this included many other little steps and I am expecting it to take about 18 months to 2 years! Looking forward, building my team monthly is imperative with my expectation of reaching 60-75 members going into 2024.with me. This will help me to increase my revenue. Another area of weakness I have is Advertising. I need to increase my reach by advertising more. Being more consistent at the start of my day will help me overall. Getting up earlier and focusing more on tasks at hand. Developing more with my wine business is something I want to strive for by exposing it to realtors, spas, and grand openings.
We Need to Get Magic Back in Dreams and/or Goals
I remember growing up, I always looked forward to watching Sunday Night TV with the Disney Movie. Can you tell I am a huge Disney fan? I was so sad when they no longer aired those wonderful fantasies. I was always more visual than sticking my nose in a book and allowing my heart to dream! So the favorite song that continues to play in my mind is the one from Cinderella: A dream is a wish your heart makes When you’re fast asleep In dreams you will lose your heartache Whatever you wish for you keep Have faith in your dreams and someday Your rainbow will come smiling through No matter how your heart is grieving If you keep on believing The dream that you wish will come true.
My Dream has led me to my new community and family of RRR247 They are composed of positive people that support and encourage each other to do and be their best. It is a community that I want the world to know about as there is none like it. A Unique, Utopian environment has been created. This system along with our DTC Ambassador program will be the future platform to change many lives of the future! I feel so blessed that I found this beacon of light, and avenue to make “the dreams that I wish for come true!”
Why Dream?
I think I have always been a dreamer and wanted to help the world. In College, I graduated with a degree in Deaf Education. My way started with helping children! I am so proud to say that I started the First Satellite Program in the State of Kentucky for preschool Hearing Impaired children (This program proudly is still going on today as well as the other 3 preschools I opened throughout the state). It was long, tedious hours on the road covering a 150-mile radius for homeschooling. And working in my tiny classroom that was converted from a former closet! I drove all over 6 counties of northern Kentucky and taught 4 different American Sigh Language classes in the evenings to the community and the children’s families. I made very little money but I was helping others.
So after my first year, my husband and I invested my pay into “The Puddle Jumper”! A 19 foot, open bow, with a 150 merc IO engine. I spent the next 15 years of my life every summer, burning all weekend, and peeling all week. We were on The Ohio River every opportunity and taught everyone and their brother how to water ski and tube. We went to every lake possible and I will cherish all the wonderful memories and every minute with “The Puddle Jumper”!
Sadly after 17 years of marriage, my husband got “Puddle Jumper” in the divorce and I got the Baby Grand Piano. Not a bad deal, but now I am dreaming again to be on the water and feel the wind in my hair. Don’t think I will be doing a lot of water skiing? But that open bow is calling to me! Now I would love just to cruise along as the sun sets and the water is calm. So why dream? Dreaming creates hope! We are meant to fulfill our dreams, and nothing in life is too big. We must visualize, plan, work hard, and arrive at that incredible finish line of success!!!!
Dream Bigger
So right now dreaming about buying a boat is huge. The other huge investment that we (my husband and I) will accomplish is to buy a house. We have been on a journey together and just being together was a dream come true. See he is Nigerian and we met online in 2010. We shared our lives for over 5 years when he asked me to marry him. We tried and tried to get him a visa to come to the US but failed. After 6 attempts we finally decided to get married to move the process along! HaHa, what were we thinking? We are talking about our government!! Right?
Anyway, in August 2016 we had an amazing reunion when I flew to Nigeria and we got married! I met the entire family and all their friends. It exceeded my dreams, but then I had to go home. My handsome, Prince Charming of a husband finally joined me in sunny Del Mar, California in July of 2018, 2 yrs later! It took a bit of getting used to, cuz we both realized we actually never dated. So the day-to-day took some adjustment. It is now going on 7 years and we are extremely happy. We have since moved to Texas. So he could be close to a cousin of his. But our biggest dream is to move back to California! We both miss the ocean, and climate, and look forward to a happy, wonderful life together in Southern California!
Travel
I have seen the world, but my husband has not had the same opportunities! We dream of traveling the world together in four or five-star Hotels. He must see Las Vegas, Hawaii, Alaska, and Belize I want to cruise the Greek Isles and return to South Africa where I lived outside of Johannesburg for almost a year. We need to travel to see my grandson and daughter in Columbus. Then swing around to Shepherdville, Ky where my son and daughter built a home with my grand furries. My baby girl and girlfriend bought a house in mid-state New York. I would love to go there and buy them everything they need for their new home. And finally, I want to throw a huge party for all my friends and relatives to come to meet my incredible, wonderful, hubby Temitope! Dreams are meant to be reached! What are your dreams?
