Dream like a House
And I just have to say that God is good. If you have been reading my blog, you know that I can sometimes worry about things just a bit more than necessary...
And so as student exiting my sophomore year and entering my junior year of college, I have been worried about what I am going to do with my career. Grad school? Start working? Stay in Springfield? Move back home to California???
Realizing that worrying wasn't getting me anything except sleepless nights, I started to move to action. I started asking people about nonprofits in town and filtering which ones I would potentially want to intern and work for.
Last weekend, I was judging for FBLA (future business leaders of America). I got to rank high school students on their business presentation and professionalism, and get to meet other business men and women in my community. (GREAT NETWORKING!) One of the gentlemen in the orientation for judges works for a not for profit and we were talking about what work in his field looks like, since that is what I am looking to go into. He, like so many in the room was a business professional who wants to give back to his community. I left with a business card from my new business connection, hopeful of a chance to chase my dreams in my career field.
Later, I emailed my new business connection and mentioned that I planned on reaching out to their company when I needed a business internship. I was pleased with a quick response!
Here, I just want to say this: Keep Dreaming.
Personally, this interaction was so encouraging. I was able to present myself as a professional. I was able to connect and hear from someone further along in their career that there are good business men and women. That while it is harsh at times, there are professionals who look to help others.
SCORE is an organization all over the U.S. that does business mentorship. They pair a more experienced business professional with one who is starting their own business, be it for profit or not for profit.
The cool thing is that I want to do just that in life. One of my long term professional goals is to help people who have the dream to start a not for profit or a for profit business, and to help set them up for a successful business career. Introducing them to sound business practices and good counsel so they can do well as a company and sustain their successes may be a nerdy businesswoman's dream, but that's my dream!
Now, whether I actually get to intern with them or not, I have gotten something from my interviews and emails with this organization. Hope. Dreams. And a little more faith in humankind.
I made a mural on my wall in my dorm room (don't worry, it was on paper that I just taped to the wall, I didn't actually paint the walls!). It reads, "Like a house, one must build a dream before they get to live in it." To me, that evokes old memories. My family decided to build an addition to the house a few years ago, and I watched my dad draw out blueprint after blueprint to plan for it. He had to go back and change things if we couldn't get a permit for a certain structure, and sometimes he would go back and change something if a new inspiration hit him. When we finally started building, as you may know if you've ever done a building project, we ran into some bumps in the road that slowed down and pushed back the timeline of completion. In those times, we would sometimes walk through unfinished rooms, wondering if we would ever actually finish.
Our dreams are a lot like this process. We dream, we plan, we wait. Sometimes, we wonder if that dream will ever actually be our reality... But keep adding to your dreams. Make them better, stronger dreams. Smile when you see that it takes a bit of a twist or turn from the original... it is just getting better. And give yourself grace for the bumps in the road that seem like pushback. We often overestimate (or underestimate) how long our dreams will take to come to fruition, but that's okay. Those empty rooms will seem empty, but one day you will sit in that room, fully furnished, with friends and loved ones and laughter who have seen you build that from the ground up.
So dream and dream like your building a house.
Believing with you,
Mel XOXO
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