In my life, I have found that there are dreams to dream.Dreams of faraway places that you want to visit. Dreams of things you want to do in life. People that you want to meet, things that you want to accomplish.
For me, these dreams have lived in my head and in my heart and in my gut. I’m not sure if they’ve resided in any other body parts, I’ll have to think about that.
And these dreams, these desires build up and develop in you from the things that you read, the people you meet, the experiences that you have. I remember being an impressionable young thing of about 24 or so. I was at work, on a break in a dingy basement room. And a girl, I believe her name was Anna, had just returned from a back packing trip. Before I met Anna and listened to her talk about her trip, I couldn’t say that international travel was officially a dream of mine. It took root in my heart, and by the end of that day, it was.
I fulfilled that dream seven years later. And until I did that, I don’t think I fully realised the impact of fulfilling my dreams, either. Dreams were dreams, after all. They lived in various body parts and were a wispy, vague, far-off sort of concept. Until I fulfilled that first one.
Oh the power of fulfilled dreams. When I saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa for the first time, something that had only previously existed in a book for me became real. My world became very small after that experience. The planet became a finite thing, something to be discovered one step at a time.
After that trip, I learned that dreams can come true. As a matter of fact, that trip concluded with me meeting my current husband, another dream come true! And now I am fulfilling another dream. This one has lived in my gut for as long as I can remember. Borne, as I have mentioned, from the teachings of my father. This dream was to start my own business. My goal was to launch on May 1st 2009.
Better late than never, my husband and I launched Scotia Vacations (http://www.scotiavacations.com/) on May 27th 2009. This last year has been a huge learning curve, and I still have so much to figure out. I don’t think my brain is big enough to hold all of the new things that I’ve learned. I can’t say that the launch of the business has given me one giant “Eureka” moment. The pleasure has been in the journey that has lead us to this point. The thousand little eureka moments that I’ve experienced along the way. Things like facing absolute terror along the lines of, “What have I done? Am I crazy? What do I know about cottage rental businesses? This is our life’s savings! What if I get it wrong????” and simply surviving. Not just surviving, but accomplishing something that I am very proud of. Realising that I am now doing exactly what I want to be doing.
Facing my fears and doing it anyway.
I am so lucky to have this opportunity. I know that others may have similar dreams but be restrained by their life’s circumstances. For me, and for my husband, it is the right time and the right place.
The moment I have been waiting for.
