With all the best will in the world I now sympathise with those of us who do not write as many blogs as we promise ourselves we will do. There always seems to be so many things to do and while I endeavour to keep up my commitment to writing frequent blogs for the Start at Sixty magazine, I seem to neglect my own site.
Still I recognise that this is not something to moan about. I love the fact that life is so busy. I am grateful that it became necessary three years ago for me to work a little harder as bills came flying through the door and no one else was going to pay them. This has meant that I have had to become more resourceful and more confident about how the many years of honing my skills would carry me through. I have had to close my ears to those who bemoan the fact that not only am I a woman, my birth certificate tells me that I am considered well past the years of useful employment. Well I choose not to listen and am enjoying some of the best years of my life.
I implore my clients to never give up on a dream, even when it looks as if the outcome can never happen. As an enthusiastic teacher I tried to provide an environment of innovation and creativity. I am grateful that Oxford University Press encouraged me by publishing a series I wrote which they called Thinking Sideways plus a series of quite creative spelling books. They sold moderately well but I didn’t make a big splash on the educational scene. However in 2001, a creative school principal purchased some of my books and immediately contacted me. Out of that contact all of these years later I have been given the freedom to co-develop the online program – Level One of Karaoke Fun Class. We are almost there. It is something I dreamed about probably fifteen years ago but had no idea about technology or how we could incorporate it into a program. It is almost ready to go to the market and I am aware that, even though I believe in it so strongly, there are no guarantees.
So whilst this project is satisfying my thirst for creativity, I realised that my years in education taught me many things and have been a springboard for later years. Firstly in developing a Registered Training Organisation and then onto my great love – coaching or maybe even better – mentoring. I feel so privileged to be able to still use the skills I have developed to bring value both in the corporate world and with individuals. I dreamed of doing this when I was still in education but had no idea that I could still be doing this so many years later.
I have always loved writing and dreamed of writing a book as a starry eyed student but wondered if I could ever write well enough. I am grateful for the encouragement given me by my lovely husband and will always be glad that my box of books arrived a few months before he passed away. He was so proud but admonished me that I mustn’t give up. I have been asked to put in a book proposal and I have had many starts and stops but the time has to be right and I feel it fast approaching. In the meantime I feel quite humbled that my book is still selling and I am off to Maryland, USA in May to speak and do a book signing. It is very exciting.
It has taken many years for me to fulfil some of my early dreams. I really didn’t believe in myself enough but I now go boldly into the night because I know I have nothing to lose.
I can now say with conviction: Never give up on a dream!
