Dreaming Big Dreams and Sharing Them With The Universe

“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”  Shel Silverstein

I know that I use the Shel Silverstein quote quite a bit but I think it really says it all.  

“Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.”  Karen Ravn

I guess you can say that I've always been a dreamer.  I've always dreamed big for my life and believed that our dreams really can become reality.  For most of my life, I've had a pretty clear idea of what I want to accomplish and I've been confident in what I need to do to get to where I want to be.  I can honestly say that so far, all my dreams have come true.  

A big part of seeing my dreams unfold has been my belief that anything really is possible.  I've focused on blocking out the naysayers and the negative Nancys in life and instead, I've believed in myself and been blessed enough with loving support and encouragement from so many dear friends and family that believe in me.  

It is just recently that I've realized the power of sharing my dreams with the universe and sharing them with confidence and belief that anything is possible.  It is easy to feel scared to put our dreams out there for all the world to see.  This can make us feel vulnerable, scared of looking like fool if we fail, and scared of seeming silly to others.  There are always those people out there that probably enjoy seeing others fail or those that feel better about themselves when they make others feel silly about their dreams but I believe that there are many more people out there that are truly joyful and supportive about our dreams and want to see us achieve great things.  In fact, I think that it is when we finally put our dreams out there on the line for all to see, that the magic starts happening and our dreams begin to become reality.  

As vulnerable as it sometimes feels to put my big life dreams out for everyone to see, I'm going to take my own advice and put a few of my life goals out there!  I also know that our big dreams today might end up changing tomorrow, next year, or many years from now.  That is part of the fun of dreaming big....anything is possible and a dream doesn't have to bind us down....dreams can come and go.  

So, here are some big dreams of mine, long long term and shorter term:

1.  I'd like you all to meet Little Cherie Lynn. 

She is the main character in the children's book that my Mom and I are writing and illustrating.  My Mom is obviously the illustrator (I can't do art like this) and I will write the story.   My big goals for the next couple of months is to read read read about the steps I need to be taking to put this thing together and send it off to publishers.  Once we get the story and pictures together, the trick will be the packaging and presentation...oh, and connections are NICE so please, if you know any tips or contacts, please please send them our way!  I think a dream has to start somewhere and so this is our start!  There is a small part of me that has those doubts that start to seep in my brain but I've got to keep shooing them away and remind myself that "anything is possible child, anything can be."

2.  5 year goal:  Start a nonprofit business focused on parent education and early literacy education.  I especially want my focus to be on helping struggling families in lower socioeconomic areas who are without resources, education, etc.  I think that it is never too early to start reading to our children and helping parents know how to help their children thrive with early literacy.  One of my ideas (an one that my friends has also had and started taking action on) is the idea of having a packet to hand out to new mothers at the hospital that includes children's books and material for parents about things they can do with their child to help them get a good head start with literacy.   Not sure how this dream will unfold but I think just putting it out here for all of you to see is a start in the right direction.  

3.  10-20 year goal:  Open my own children's bookstore.

Here are just a few of the many books on my shelves that you might find in my bookstore:

4.  Recent Running Goals:  Okay, I'm going to say it.  After my hamstring injury I spent a lot of time on the couch.  I had plenty of time to cry but more time to DREAM Big and boy did I have an appetite for some comeback action.  I started dreaming bigger than ever before.  I couldn't even walk normally but I told my husband that I was going to break 3 hours in the marathon.  Ha! Ha! Okay, so maybe I was getting ahead of myself.  Especially since that would mean a 22 minute PR.  Talk about dreaming big.  I had it all figured out as to what I would have to do, the training I would do, and I really had myself believing that I would and could do it.  Maybe someday but my dreams have already changed..see, that's fun about dreams....you can dream them up and sit with them for awhile and then take a new direction.  Yes, a sub 3 would be wonderful but for now, I'm thinking just running another 3:22 would make me happy!  Very happy.   I'd like to do at least one Marathon this year that I really train for.  I've never really followed a plan seriously besides the one I was training for in October when I ripped up my hamstring.  I dream of running the New York Marathon and Boston Marathon over the next 3 years.  

5.  Ironman.  Enough said.  A dream for another day.  

1.  What are some of your BIG dreams?  I'd love to hear a 1, 5, or 10-20 year dream!


2.  Do you get scared to share your big dreams with people? You know the goals you have for yourself that are most near and dear...do you ever get scared that others might think they are silly or beyond you?  


3.  Who are your most supportive people in your life...the ones that make you believe that "anything is possible child, anything can be"?  


4.  What is your favorite book?

Amanda

When The Pieces Come Together. Learning To Read and Achieving New Levels as a Runner.

Obviously, neither one of these photos are of me or my children but they seem to go along with what the gist of this blog is all about.  

We all started somewhere with our running.  Some of us came from a family of runners and we were running races as children.  Others discovered running much later in life. There are those that ran competitively in high school and college and those that just run because they like how it makes them feel. And of course, there are those out there that just don't want anything to do with running.  But if you are one of those people that makes running part of your life, I think you'd all agree that running can be joyful, challenging, and rewarding!  Just running in itself (without racing or setting PRs) can be fulfilling and help us have balance in our lives.  However, I also think you'd agree that when we set new Personal Records and reach new levels with our running, it can be truly magical.  The speed workouts, long runs, hill repeats, reading about running, talking about running, fine tuning your stride...when all these pieces come together in one awesome race it is as if a whole new world is opened to us and we just want to keep coming back for more!


Just as we all start somewhere with our running, we also started somewhere as readers and writers.  As many of you know, literacy development and instruction is one of my greatest passions.  It always brought such joy to me as a teacher to inspire and motivate my students to read and write and to see them start to identify themselves as readers and writers.  It is a pretty amazing thing to see a child start putting the pieces together and finally take off with their reading and writing life.  All the letter sounds, books they've heard, stories they've told, small sentences and words....when all these pieces come together and a child finally learns to read (just like with running), it is as if a whole new world is opened to them and hopefully they keep coming back for more!  


Last night, my 5 year old daughter reached this Ah-Ha moment where she realized that she can read!  I have never pushed the issue and so far have been one of those moms that reads lots of books to them, with them, and I let them see me be a voracious reader and writer. I have trusted that she is progressing just fine and I've been happy to see her find joy in text.  But last night, I took out my daughter's kindergarten word list to work on a few of her sight words since we had not done that in a long time.  Usually she kind of kicks and screams about the whole thing so I try to trust that she will learn most of it in school and I don't do much.  Last night something just clicked with her and she was reading and loving it.  I started writing sentences for her and she was reading them too.  Once she realized she could really read and that the pieces were coming together, it was as if this huge light came on inside her little soul and her eyes were wide with excitement and joy!  Now she can't get enough! She was jumping up and down saying "I'm a reader!  I'm a reader!" This reminded me of what it kind of feels like for us runners when we set a Personal Record or have a really great speed workout...when we see all our hard work and all the pieces of our training plans come together for one awesome record!  We know that there is a whole new level out there for us to work towards and it is exciting!

This morning, my daughter woke up so eager to start reading and practicing more and more.  We read several B.O.B books together...well, she read them to me.  She read every word and she was even okay with moving past the tricky words and coming back later.  Then while I cooked breakfast, she wrote sentences to tell her own little story.  I convinced her to stop being such a perfectionist and guess and go with words that were too tricky.  I told here that that is what real writers do...we get a rough draft down and then go back after our thoughts are out.  It was so cool to see her not get frustrated with herself but to just let her ideas flow. I think this is important for runners too.  We need to realize that we need to get a few races under our belt before we can expect to really know what to work on with our running.  We learn from every set back and new accomplishment.  And we eventually learn that we can mess up or have a bad race and still come back strong!

Seeing my daughter so joyful over realizing she can read reminded me just why I am so in love with teaching.  What a joy it is to see those little lights come on and to see a child experience so much joy and pride.  What joy it brings to see that a child  believes that they are a Reader and Writer just like their favorite authors and role models.  I'm sure being a running coach brings with it some of the same joys!  To see your runners believe in themselves and finally put the hard work and pieces together to set personal records, smash barriers, and reach new levels as a runner.  Learning to read and achieving new levels with our running, racing, and personal goals opens new doors in our life and allows us to see just how limitless this life can be!  

 Oh, and this one is just for fun.  I think she must be telling Santa that she can read!  

What is a time in your life where you finally saw the pieces come together for something awesome?  A race?  A personal best?  Seeing your children learn something new?


Amanda