When did you stop dreaming?  When did you stop believing anything was possible?
For me it was sometime in late childhood.  My last memory of truly dreaming was when I used to shoot hoops in my driveway telling myself with each made shot that I’d be playing high school ball, and then college, and finally in the NBA.  I remember the rough leather ball swishing through the chain net as I envisioned myself as the next Paul Pierce (seriously!).

Now, those of you that have witnessed my skill level at basketball are probably laughing at this and as you may have guessed, I never made it. My average height and poor hand-eye coordination kept me off the high school basketball team, never mind the NBA.  But I was a twelve year old kid and I had the right to dream.  I had the right to believe that anything in my life was worth shooting for.

Only a few short years later however my childhood abandoned me and as a teenager I began to fall under the influence of the adult world – a world where we’re taught to think realistically about our future and to follow a pre-paved path to “success.”  During this stage of my life the dreaming stopped, and for over a decade I wallowed in a dreamless state.

Well, I’ve got news for you all: I’ve started dreaming again.

I’ve started to dream about the life I want to create for myself. I’ve started to dream about all the things I want to do, the places I want to go, and the people I want to meet. I’ve started to dream that anything I want to do I can make into a reality.

I’ve started to think beyond these tracks that were set down for me and beyond what people think I’m capable of.  I’ve started to think innovatively about the world around me.

I’ve started to think about how I can best impact this world and leave my mark.  I’ve started to think about what I’m passionate about, what I’m skilled at and what my values are.

I’ve started to think about designing my life in a way that makes me happy day-in and day-out.  I don’t want to compromise forever.  I don’t want to sit in an office chair my whole life.

The easy thing to do in our world is to hang onto a job that we’re comfortable with even if the job isn’t fulfilling for us.  But why do we accept this?  Should we not spend the moments in our lives on something that we are passionate about?  Shouldn’t we still find time to chase our dreams?

As you sit in your cube and read this aren’t tiny alarm bells going off in your head?  Are you at your job because it makes you happy or are you there because it’s realistic?  Being realistic is a dangerous thing – it limits you.  It limits me.

The question now becomes how to change our path.  How do we find our calling and turn what we’re passionate about into a business?  How do we even determine what we’re passionate about in the first place?   It all starts with realizing it’s out there.  For each and every one of us a true calling exists.  We just need to dig deep within us and discover how to dream again.

Dreaming again is what made me start this blog.  Dreaming again is what sent me to Peru.  Dreaming again is what made me begin my first side business venture (coming in 2017).  Dreaming again makes me believe I can design my lifestyle around the things I love.

And for those of you who decide to dream with me you’ll discover that the path is not easy.  There will be doubters.  There will be people who don’t take you seriously.  There will be people telling you to be realistic.  But remember that these are the people who have chosen to stay in the system forever as they refuse to reach higher and have ignored to even look for their true calling.

By unlocking our calling we are given the ability to dream again, as we once did as children.  We can dream of living a life on our terms.  We can dream of uncovering our talents and sharing them with the world.  We can dream of being anything we want to be.  And best of all, as adults, we can make these dreams come true.