Do what it takes to make your DREAMS REAL!

Have you ever had a day or a moment that quietly whispered to you? Maybe the day shouted at you or just gently talked… I had one of those yesterday. The day told me much about my past and my present.And it came in a song!

Let me set the stage: My husband and I were invited to be guests on a local radio show. It went really well – I talked about my “Little Moments” book and my husband sang songs from his CD. The last song he performed was the title track: “Wiggle Like a Fish” … the lyrics go: You gotta wiggle like a fish, slither like a snake, turn yourself around – DO WHAT IT TAKES.

That “do what it takes” struck me as I stood in that little studio room listening to him sing! My mind flashed back to when I first dared to write the pages of my book (2003). I had a new baby, and two little boys. I wrote late at night and early in the morning. The words and ideas just kept coming and I knew I had to do something with them. I didn’t know anything about the publishing world or how to even get a book made. Eventually, I found a way to cut and bind a few copies and was putting them together for Christmas. While picking up the newly bound handmade books, I bumped into a lady I had met a couple of months earlier while visiting her gift shop – Wild Goose Designs. To my surprise, she remembered me and asked what I was doing at Staples on Christmas Eve. I told her I was picking up my books.

She stopped and said: “I didn’t know you were an Author!” I told her I didn’t know I was either!

She then invited me to do a book signing at her shop on Valentine’s Day. This propelled me into the next stage – making lots of books! I found a local copy shop that would print and cut them. I handmade all the covers and took them to be bound. (Lots of steps involved).

The book signing was a riot! And at one point, the handmade book ended up in 4 shops around town. I found myself doing more book signings and enjoyed radio and TV interviews. I then tried to find a publishing house to pick up the manuscript. For the record: It has been rejected by 4 thus far.

But during that search, I was hired by one of the publishing houses to be their Literary Publicist. I did that for 3 years. And as I was learning and growing in the publishing world, I thought it would be fun to do something with my husband’s singing talent. And we started Wiggle Like a Fish! And all of that flashed through my mind as my husband sang his “Wiggle” song and I couldn’t help but think … “WOW! Look what has happened and who we have become in the last 5 years!”

I share the above story to simply say that when we choose to dream and take the steps necessary to make the dream REAL, our lives change and before we know it, we are no longer the person we used to be. We find ourselves in an entire new space in life and the doors that are opening are open because we dared to dream and do! We dared to push down the fear barriers and continued to walk into the unknown. We dared to DO WHAT IT TAKES. And if necessary – turn ourselves around to get where it is we want to be.

PS:
My ultimate goal when I first wrote the book was to have it published. I thought that would be the best thing to happen. But this adventure continues to teach me that there is NOT just ONE final outcome or destination for our dreams.

I am continually reminded that EVERY STEP of the Journey – IS the journey! And yesterday was just a little reminder that the little moments matter – because what we choose to do with our time ultimately decides who we will become…