{"id":333,"date":"2007-10-11T22:59:00","date_gmt":"2007-10-11T22:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/2007\/10\/reach-for-the-sky.html"},"modified":"2007-10-11T22:59:00","modified_gmt":"2007-10-11T22:59:00","slug":"reach-for-the-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/2007\/10\/reach-for-the-sky.html","title":{"rendered":"Reach for the Sky"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>
I\u2019ve been laughed at since leaving DoorMatville. People can\u2019t believe some of my ambitions or the dreams that I say I intend to make real. They couldn\u2019t imagine how I might think about getting the things I went after. Yet I got some of them! I used to feel limited in what I could hope to do. Now, the sky\u2019s the limit! <\/p>\n

Many folks stick their feet tightly in the rut life puts them in.<\/span> They peek out and don\u2019t seek out much more than they have, assuming it\u2019s too late or too much. It can be easier to look straight ahead instead of looking up and up and up. So when an oddball like me talks really big, folks laugh. Maybe it\u2019s nervousness\u2014it might rub off on them and they can\u2019t handle it. Or maybe they really think I\u2019m nuts. I couldn\u2019t care less. I\u2019m the one flying high while they hover just above the ground.<\/p>\n

In 1996 I decided I was ready to get published and announced to anyone who\u2019d listen that I intended to have 3 book deals in one year. I heard many snickers and was told that was impossible. It takes over a year to get the first book out so I should be grateful for the one. But I don\u2019t listen to can\u2019ts! I got my first book deal in July 1996, and my third made it just under the wire in July 1997. Since then I\u2019ve continued to aim high. <\/p>\n

Artist and sculptor Michelangelo said, “The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”<\/span> <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t settle for what you think is your limit! Fear of failure can make us lower standards or not seek what we should.<\/span> Often people tell us what we can and can\u2019t go after. I had boundaries on which guys were okay to think about dating. There were many I felt were out of my league, so I didn\u2019t go near them. It was the same with jobs and travel. I became a teacher because I felt unprepared for anything else. I\u2019ve always had a passion for travel but visiting family in Miami was the most I\u2019d do.<\/p>\n

Until I woke up and accepted that limits were my CHOICE. So was making dreams come true.<\/span> <\/p>\n

Now I\u2019ll approach any guy who interests me, with confidence. I go after work that interests me, even if I\u2019ve never done it before, and travel the world. One of my biggest dreams was to go to Alaska on my own. I did it last summer\u2014for 18 glorious days! Nothing is out of my reach anymore. Nothing! I may not get everything I go after, but getting less is still often a lot more than what I settled for.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t expect much, you probably won\u2019t get much. When you go for the gold, you might get silver but silver is nice too! Dreaming large is a lovely long distance from DoorMatville! <\/span>

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I appreciate having one of my articles included in these blog carnivals.
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I\u2019ve been laughed at since leaving DoorMatville. People can\u2019t believe some of my ambitions or the dreams that I say I intend to make real. They couldn\u2019t imagine how I might think about getting the things I went after. Yet I got some of them! 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