Who The Hell Are You Anyway?

You may have had a dream nestled in your heart from a long time back. You may have just recently been struck by a million dollar idea. Either way, the vision, the notion, the mere undefined dream, will never become a concrete certainty without you and your effort/ability. You have been given the gift of the idea and now you must act or see it die on the vine.

But who the hell are you anyway? Are you the candle or the light? How dare you define yourself differently that your peers, colleagues, and family? You may even, when thinking about this vision, discount your own ability to get it done. Why you? Why not you?

I can include a long list of "self-made" men that have gathered great fortunes in this country not so long ago. What really set them apart from so many others that had very similar lives and backgrounds? I believe that a large part of what occurred was simply because they were never told they couldn't do something great.

Everyone hears negative speech coming from detractors who wish to keep you from reaching your full potential. Some negative voices are not so deliberately negative but only mean to convey a cautionary tone. All of our human drive and direction often falls very short of the true potential within everyone. We use a small amount of our total brain power, for example, so it can be very easy to see the world around through a very narrow slit.

Don't be upset by the detractors. Not everyone can come along with you on your ride in life, most must make new paths in the forest of life alone. If you listen, or worse yet, take to heart the negative speech, you are halting  your true self growth. You are the gift, you are the dreamer, and only you can't make your dreams come true. It is said that the profit is not welcome in his own house, meaning those closet to you can be the biggest roadblock you will encounter.

Every business begins with an idea, a dream, and that dream can create jobs not only for the dreamer but for the community, the families, and those who will be born later on in the time stream. A simple idea to open a little shop can turn and turn and turn, into a huge corporation or create a new item never before thought about. Every time you purchase something from a small business you are creating wealth that will support families, youth sports, community arts, and much more. It is the small business that directly influences the local economy.

So who the hell are you anyway? You are the vessel that may one day see an out-pouring so large that all around you, the supporters and the employees, will be blessed by your efforts. Doubting your talents, second guessing your pathway, waiting for your friends and family to support your dream, or even underwriting the efforts, often times delays and kills the dream altogether.

Define and outline who you are for yourself. I am _____, I want ____, I can ____. I do what I do because this is who I am and this is one of the few things that I do very well. I make edible art for people and teach young people to do the same. This was no one else's dream for my life but mine. Others had their own ideas of who I could have or should have become, but alas, I am the only one that has to live this life so why should I make it someone else's dream for me? Or is it that other people are defining your life in directions that please them, something to brag about to others? 'My son is a doctor.  What did your kid become?"

Live your life earning money by doing what you were called to be, what makes you happy, and then your happiness will make others happy as well. I never again wish to work at making another person rich while I eat the crumbs off the grown folks table. My pound of flesh has been taken and I have no more to give.

Find your identity, ask yourself who you are, dream the dreams you wish to live. Don't stop until the battle is won. I am someone worthy of wealth, love, honesty, respect, blessings, responsibilities, honor, genuine friends, and all the other priceless things of this life.... and so are you!

Be the dreamer but always work three times harder towards your dream than you do anything else for you are the only one that can conjure up the mojo to turn a simple dream into a reality.