This morning I got an email from a site I follow called Launch My Day and It was a message so simple and so true I had to share it with you. In the story, the writer, Eric Scheibeler tells a story of chasing his dog around the neighborhood and finally bringing him home only to find out he had the wrong dog. He likened this to a man chasing his dream in life only to realize one day that his dream turned into someone else's dream and that his own dream had somehow fallen by the wayside.
A sad story to be certain but for many of us, myself included, it is our story. I too had a dream a long time ago to own my own business and be able to do the things I wanted to do. To be certain, I have been a partner in two such businesses in my past. One was a shoe store in Savannah and the other a Sonic Drive-in in Missouri. The first partnership was a dream made for my 26 year old self. I was young, newly married and had my own business. I was ecstatic to be so blessed. That partnership lasted 2 years and I had started making plans to buy out my partner but because of some shady dealings from my own family, the partnership dissolved before my dream was finalized. I went back to work for my old firm and moved to Tampa in time to see my first child born.
Fast forward two years later. I had moved back to Tennessee, changed employers and my wife had just had our second child. I was offered a second partnership at age 31 with a few of my co-workers who were leaving the company and buying into a Sonic franchise. I did my due diligence and felt like it was a good fit for my family. I should have checked further because in less than eight months, I was totally broke financially, moved back to Tennessee from Missouri again and starting over once more.
My "Partners" didn't want a partner, they wanted a manager that would give his every waking moment to the business. My wife and I worked opposite shifts and took turns watching the children so we could devote our all to making the business our own. After six months of this, we went home for a holiday weekend. When we returned, the locks had been changed, the partnership dissolved and all my investment lost. All because I took a weekend away from work. Not really, that was just the straw that broke the camel's back. My partners wanted my wife and I to fire all the employees and work open to close (9AM to 1AM), placing our children in daycare so we could realize a bigger profit. We had gone home to decide if we wanted to continue in the partnership and while we were gone, the decision was made for us.
Back in Tennessee, I took the first job I was offered. It was not meant to be a permanent job, I was just trying to feed my family until something better came along. Twenty-one years later, due to being in the right place at the right time and an aweful lot of hard work I am still there.
Let me say that I am very fortunate because my job is not a hard one. It is a job that I have worked hard to obtain and I feel like I have gained respect and despite not having a college education, I have attained a level that pays well and usually requires a degree.
Now back to chasing one's own dream. It was always my dream to own my own business and to be independent of someone else deciding what is important in my life and what is not. Somewhere along the line, I crossed over from chsing my own dream to chasing someone else's dream. First, I got comfortable with a steady and decent paycheck. I was able to feed my family and my wife was able to stay home with our kids until they started school. It was tight financially, but it was manageable. Then one day, I am not sure I can pinpoint the exact time, I began to chase my employer's dreams instead of my own. I stopped dreaming of my own business and I started fearing not having that steady income. I became used to living the life I had carved out. I got older, divorced, remarried, married off all our children but one, got fat, got skinny again, got fat again, you know the drill. I became complacent.
Then one day, I experienced an ephiphany. It was soon after my Mother died last year. If tomorrow, I lost everything: Home, car, job, and everything I use in life; If everything was gone but my family, I WOULD bounce back. The thing is, I might take a smaller job "till something better comes along" just to pay some bills and eat but this time, Something Better would come along. One of my favorite quotes is from George Bernard Shaw which states: "The people who get on in this world are the people who look for the circumstances they want and if they can't find them, make them up."
This time around, I would look for the circumstances I want and if I fail to find them, I would make them up! While I am thankful for my job, I do not like it that someone else decided I only deserve 2 weeks vacation after 21 years. I did not like having to work the day I buried my Mother and the day after I buried my Father because someone else decided I did not deserve time to grieve after 21 years of service without taking vacation time and mine was all used up.
I have no complaint about my employer. I love my job but I am living their dream, not mine. As long as they pay me, I will give my all at work. BUT, as for me, I have made a comittment. TODAY I CHOOSE to CHASE MY OWN DREAM!
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