I have been fortunate in life in that I have been given the opportunity to have worn many hats.  Having a broad level of experiences in life has given my personality a great deal of depth.  I have always been a marketer in some role or another.  One of these marketing roles was that of an entertainer, in which I marketed what would become my signature brand of “fun, joy and ease" as a singer and dancer.  One of the shows I was involved with featured a song from Disney’s Cinderella in which I sang these words:

A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you're fast asleep
In dreams you lose your heartaches
Whatever you wish for, you keep
Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling through
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
the dream that you wish will come true.

Now it might have been my immaturity at that time, but the meaning of those words was lost in the duty of having to sing them.  I had no understanding of what I was signing, I was just singing.  Possibly due to repetition, those words found a place to hide out away in my memory until I had enough life experiences to fully understand the value of the lesson to be learned. 

Thankfully, the day came when I have had enough life experiences to understand the value of lesson to be learned.  The moment occurred when I was trying to entertain the boredom of my some of my younger Sister Queens, as we awaited our appearance in the King Tree Parade at the Florida Forestry Festival.  Like magic, the words to this song rolled of my lips and the culmination of this song’s meaning and my life experiences intersected.

It takes faith, belief, heartache and time to make a dream come true and for it to be yours to keep.  Nothing in life that has been handed to me seems to hold its value and I often take it for granted.  The achievements in life that I had to earn are the most precious to me.  There seems to be an equation for success in my life.  The more blood, sweat and tears effort towards attainment, the greater the value of the accomplishment.  It takes courage to suffer failure, heart to get back into the game, faith in your abilities to sustain your momentum and tenacity to endure until your dreams do come true.  Actual success is to be earned like an athlete training for success, not dropped in your lap like the winnings of a lottery.

When working with Automotive Management, Service and Sale Staff, inspire them to chase their dreams by pushing themselves to better at their best.  The best that you are today will only see you through this day.  Tomorrow, you have to continue the momentum forward and be better than your best from yesterday.  Without momentum, we are all subject to gravity and gravity is a heavy weight to bear.  If something is worth having, it is worth working towards.  Believe in your goals, have faith it your abilities, understand it will be a struggle and know it will take time.  There is no easy button for success.

Copyright © 2013, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.