By Maurie Cashman
Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream,
Really do come true.
What dreams are you working for? Last week we talked about enthusiasm for your work and what can happen when you do or don’t have it.
It is gratifying to get the opportunity to step back and see the fruits of your hard labor and to stop and smell the roses and it is important that you do so. We had the opportunity to do exactly that over the past month.
It started with taking our youngest son to Drake University for his freshman year. Yes we are now empty-nesters! After some freshman follies things appear to have settled down and he seems to be adjusting well. Mom has done a stellar job in handling the absence of her son. He has undertaken a challenging career path and we are anxious to see his progression.
Three weeks later our oldest daughter married a wonderful young man. We are all thrilled to have him in our family and enjoyed getting to know his family and reuniting with our kids’ friends from high school, college and work and with family. We had a blast setting up for the wedding and the day was wonderful. Dad barely cried until the father-daughter dance and they were tears of joy. Our middle daughter stole the show with her world-class toast as did our son with his highly unexpected entrance and trumpet solo at the wedding. The wedding party was a special group of people and the deacon gave a touching and thoughtful sermon.
So many wonderful memories were made and are yet to come. I feel so incredibly blessed to have a wonderful family and fantastic friends. As I said during the invocation, none of it deserved but given nonetheless.
Perspective is a wonderful thing that we often tend to lose. If you are like me and most other entrepreneurs we can get very, very focused on our businesses. We tend to take the people in our lives for granted and it is truly here that our rewards lie. There is a reason that the lyrics to the song do not say “somewhere at the end of the rainbowâ€. There is no end and there is no pot of gold. The rewards are in what we do for our families, friends and community. That is what takes us “over†the rainbow and it is one great ride.
There are a lot of hard things in this world. There will be difficult times for each of us. But these are the memories that I hope to have at the end and what I am working for. I am very enthused about the next generation and what they can accomplish and am excited about helping them to implement new and innovative ideas. I hope you will take a few minutes to consider what dreams lie over the rainbow for you and whether you are on track to reach them.
“The dreams that you dare to dream really do come trueâ€.