Dreams do come in all shapes and sizes and so do the “Amazing Dreamers” that make them happen. I like to call them “God’s Athletes” because they are living by example. I must be, let me re-phrase that, I know I am living a blessed life because there are so many people around me doing amazing things that narrowing it down to just one is challenging. There are 3 people who I consider to be Amazing Dreamers that all contributed to the person I feel compelled to write about.
Honestly, hands down, my favorite person creating & living in their dreams (and mine) is Oprah. Getting to watch and learn about her experiences over the years has touched me on so many different levels. She brings education on all types of people and places into my sheltered world, ignites passions within my soul I didn’t know existed and doing it most of the time by laughter through tears. She not only lives her dreams but she inspires others to create and live within their dreams. This is a gift. One she clearly not only recognizes & embraces, but is enormously grateful for. It is all possible because she loves, is passionate for and is committed to her purpose.
My next Amazing Dreamer is Cookie Lee, the founder & president of Cookie Lee Jewelry. She birthed her business in 1985 by making and selling her own jewelry creations to family & friends through home shows. In 1992 she enlisted her first consultant and today her company is a very well known direct sales company with over 70,000 consultants in all 50 states. Aside from her monetary success, her passion, vision and genuine love of others is laced throughout every piece of jewelry, catalog and conversation I’ve personally experienced. She enrolls a warm and subtle spark within people that makes them strive to be the best they can. She is clearly a person not only living in purpose and having fun, but does so with high levels of integrity.
My third Amazing Dreamer is Marcia Wieder, a new found influence and friend in my life. Now, I realize that this is her search for “Who else is doing amazing things?” But she rightfully earned a space in my top three because her whisper came in SHOUTING. I met her in January 2006 when she came to a Cookie Lee convention as the motivational speaker. She talked highly of Oprah’s passion & vision for making her dreams come true and that she has even been on Oprah a couple of times (she had me from “hello”). She spoke in a voice that targeted my soul grabbing my undivided attention. It was there I discovered the opportunity to sign up for one of her weekend workshops, “Creating Your Future Now”. I dragged my husband to it (kicking and screaming) but when we left that weekend we were a changed couple both together and separately, for life.
She is a living example of someone who is following her own heart, “by taking risks, doing interesting, fun and cool” (like running this contest) things, which in turn may unveil more potential “Athletes of God” (Big smile). Marcia’s passion and clarity to help others find their passion and heart’s desires spoke in volumes to me. Her combination of purpose, vision and articulation is unmistakably clear. She doesn’t just empower you to think or focus on your dreams, her masterful coaching teaches you to find the when, where & how within yourself, why they are important, and the steps to put them into action.
I love that she says, “Not all dreamers need to be at the level of Oprah or Mother Teresa” because I believe that thought is the very reason some people don’t believe they already are or have potential to be an “Amazing Dreamer”. I believe just noticing those people or their acts, is a whisper most of us don’t recognize.
So by now you may have guessed the person I have been leading up to is me, an Amazing Dreamer in action. You may be thinking “what a fruit loop” I am for choosing myself. But it is the very reason I had to write about myself. I am no Mother Teresa or Oprah by any stretch of the imagination. I am simply an ordinary person, living an average life who felt I was already living my ultimate dream. So why would I possibly ask for more? The problem is I had this voice inside me that kept asking, “Is there more”? This is about the time I tuned into Oprah on her “Dream Bus” making viewers “Wildest Dreams Come True”. This really got me thinking about what my wildest dream is. First I asked everyone around me what theirs were, to see if I was just plain weird for not having one and secondly to try and steal some good ideas. The more I researched the more frustrated I got about not having one. So I decided at that point to go on a serious “dream hunt” inside myself. The good news in catapulting this dream hunt into action is that I discovered I actually had a purpose; making a difference one person at a time. The bad news is that I didn’t have the true articulation of my purpose. I have always had extreme compassion and genuine love for people. I enjoy helping others on various levels but I rarely feel completely satisfied. I want to make a difference by empowering others to recognize and appreciate their magnificent individual uniqueness so they can discover, articulate and live out their purpose. Wow, how’s that for an articulated purpose! My hope is for them to become amazing dreamers so that it might start an epidemic, resulting in happier more productive, purpose driven lives. Now that my purpose is clear, my hope is that this story calls you to go on your own “dream hunt”.
The awakening to become an Amazing Dreamer began about 2 ½ years ago with some extraordinary events that took place. Due to my husband’s job changing and the affects of 9/11, we had to sell our dream home to live in a rental until we could figure out where we could afford to live. I had just been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and shortly after had to leave my enjoyable, but stressful, job of 3 years. In that same month, not only was I in a serious car accident that totaled my husband’s vehicle, but 3 weeks later (2 days after Christmas) our only other vehicle was stolen right out of our garage. Due to these events and others within a 3 month period of time it became succinctly clear that these were whispers slapping me in the face that I could no longer ignore.
It was during this time a friend of mine (who had been telling me for a year I’d be great at Cookie Lee) asked me to again join her team. Timing is everything, so I did. Three weeks after that I had the privilege of attending my first convention where I discovered not only Cookie, but if I set my goals and worked hard enough I could earn a Dream Get-A-Way trip on a Hawaiian cruise. That was it, dream #1, and that is what I fixed my eyes & heart on. I was amazed by the joy I felt from just choosing & committing to a dream. In 8 months time dream trip achieved! It happened to be our 10 year wedding anniversary that year and since I was feeling confident with my first dream accomplishment under my belt, I thought “what the heck”, let’s go for another one and see what happens. So, with a Rolls Royce limo, an intimate ceremony, 6 close friends, a local with a voice as smooth as butter singing our favorite Hawaiian songs acoustic style we renewed our vows barefoot on one of the many incredible private beaches on Maui. Wham! Dream #2 created from, and in dream #1. The sense of accomplishment and fulfillment I felt from that moment on was like nothing I had ever felt before. That was it, I was hooked, from there, there was absolutely no turning back.
The year after, I earned the trip to Turks & Caicos in the Caribbean. Since the only tropical place I had ever been to was Hawaii, it exceeded any of my wildest dreams. So much so in fact, every time I think back to it I am on cloud nine all over again. I knew from the joy and completeness I experienced from making my own dreams come true it had to become part of my every day thinking. I started to realize that I am in charge of creating my dreams and making sure they come true. I let go of all the reasons or doubts as to why I shouldn’t or couldn’t and developed plans to ensure that I would. I also started to embrace catastrophic events in my life as experiences to appreciate, learn and grow from, instead of viewing them as obstacles. By simply changing my mind set it eliminated the fear and replaced it with excitement knowing that the experience was going to put me that much closer to my dreams. I had a huge “aha” moment at Marcia’s workshop when she asked us to stop and think of someone who has deeply hurt you. I was wondering why she would want us to bring such a negative feeling back until she said, “These are your greatest teachers. These are the people who in one way or another contributed to your value and belief system you have in place today”. The second the negative turned into a positive I became instantly grateful for those teachers, for without them I would not be the person I am today and I wouldn’t have discovered my true passion and purpose. By recognizing my potential and learning to listen to the whispers it allowed me to move from ordinary to extraordinary.
It’s amazing what presents itself as you start to set and achieve your dreams. As my mind, heart and soul began to connect I started listening more to myself rather than the people around me. The more I did that the more doors opened to what was really important to me. I am no longer “simply an ordinary person, living an average life”. I am an Amazing Dreamer, living an extraordinary life and in my own eyes and heart I am an Oprah or Mother Teresa. If I can do you it, you can too.
By:Laura Page