Dare to Dream

How did I get to this place in my life? I was married to a man who was a dreamer. He could dream all day long. Crazy dreams, big dreams, business dreams, financial dreams. He could dream of anything. But not me. I think somehow I missed that lesson growing up. I just had no idea what I wanted out of life. The only thing I did know was that I wanted more.

Over lots of conversations with my husband I slowly learned to dream. For me, it was always the how that I would get hung upon. If I couldn't figure out how I wouldn't have the dream. But I let go of that and dared to dream. I dared to hope for something more.

There's this cute elderly man who was a resident in the assisted living facility where I worked. He had come back from the doctor with some specific dietary requests. As a cook, I looked over the requests to figure out a way to implement them in his diet. These requests bothered me. Based on what I understood about how the body worked and basic nutrition this did not seem like the best way to accomplish his goals. Of course, we implemented exactly what the doctor wanted. However, I had a few ideas of my own that could also be helpful. I got permission for a nurse to discuss these ideas with the resident. He was very open to my ideas and so we implemented them. Just days later we started to see the results. For the next few months, he followed these dietary recommendations. He lost the weight that the doctor required him to lose to be able to get off one of his medications. He was so excited to finally be off this medication and to be in the weight bracket that his doctor wanted for him. I was also excited to see his health improve. That was the moment. That was the moment that I knew that I had a lot to offer when it came to my understanding of food and the body. This showed me that I knew enough to help people make changes that could improve their health or help them reach their goals. All the research I had done for myself over the years. All the changes I had made to my diet to reach my health goals could also help other people.

I had found my passion. I wanted to work with people and teach nutrition. I was so excited to find something that excited me. I shared this newfound passion with my husband, and he got excited with me. I started researching where I could get an education so that I could learn even more. I found a school called SWIHA. I looked at the classes in their nutrition program and every one of them excited me. Every one of them offered information I wanted to know. Before I know it, I was enrolled to go back to school - A dream I had never considered. I would hear people talking about wanting to go back to school. That was never me. I didn't even want to go to school the first time around. Here I was with a passion, a dream, and back in school. Once I was done with school, I wanted to start my open business as a health coach. Wait, it looks like I have more than one dream here. A business women, who would have ever thought?

As a working mother of two children, I enrolled to go to school full time. I felt very supported by my husband in this dream. I knew that as a nutritionist I could also financially contribute to the family in a way that would help me reach some of my other life dreams. So, I took a big step and got enrolled in school.

It felt so good to have a dream again. It felt good to have passion and direction. Do you have a dream that you are working for or are you letting life take you for a ride? Are you living aimlessly and taking control of where you are going? Dare to dream. Dare to have the life that you want. Start with a dream and then the action steps will follow.