As we take our dream from the creation stage to the next level, the addition of passion or feelings will keep the dream alive. It’s the “why” behind the dream. The force that looks beyond ourselves to the greater good. It’s taking a black and white picture and adding color and action and bringing that photo to life. It’s the sights and sounds, and most important, the feelings of the moment.
Do you have a dream like that?
I did a little research online and looked for keywords about success. What dreams are people pursuing? I wanted to look deeper than self centered, sometimes selfish goals to those that had real meaning. What is the why in all of this?
I looked up the following topics and found some interesting pictures..
Academic Success: Helping others to get an education.
ORAL LEE BROWN – HELPING OTHERS
In 1987, Mrs. Brown made a tremendous commitment towards giving something back. She adopted the entire first grade class at Brookfield Elementary School located in East Oakland. She deposited $10,000 into a trust account and created the Oral Lee Brown Foundation. She continued to deposit $10,000 each year into the Foundations trust account, making a commitment through1999.The money will go towards the college tuition for each student. Not only is she supporting the children financially for their future education, but she meets with the parents on a regular basis and mentors the students. Mrs. Brown sponsors an annual Scholarship Gala and celebrated the graduation of the OLBF scholarship students this year. Of the original twenty-three students, nineteen graduated and are currently enrolled in college.
Career Success: A career that helps others
Sylvia Mack’s back faced her classroom door as County Superintendent of Schools Charles Weis walked inside Tuesday morning. When she turned and spotted him, he handed her a plaque topped by a gold star.
“Oh my,” she said, smiling and somewhat embarrassed.
Everyone in the room — Weis, Ventura Unified School District board member John Walker, Superintendent Trudy Tuttle Arriaga, even 20 little students sitting under floating cardboard planets in the universe — began clapping.
“Boys and girls, do you know what we just did for your teacher,” Weis asked.
He explained that Mack, a third-grade instructor at Ventura’s Juanamaria School, was selected as the county’s Teacher of the Year.
The honor, Weis told the class, means Mack could be named the top teacher in the nation.
“She could be the best teacher in the world,” said 9-year-old student Natalie Searcy.
Although being selected the top teacher in a county with 6,000 instructors would be an honor any year, the award may be bittersweet for Mack. After taking her class on a final field trip to Arroyo Verde Park, after playing a ball game and helping her tiny students clean their desks, leaving them nice and neat, Mack will retire when the school year ends Thursday. She will end a career that spanned 52 years.
Business Success: Giving back to the community
Sherry Sutton worked her way through Buffalo State College, clerking at a drugstore, inspired by her dream of becoming a graphic artist.
Not long after graduation — with $1,200 of her life savings and a $1,200 loan — she hit that goal, building her own successful graphic design business.
Now she puts her design skills to good use for the Greater Buffalo Chapter of the American Red Cross. Sutton volunteers behind the scenes, with her company Sassy Design Group, giving the chapter a state-of-the-art makeover.
With her committee, she recruited a considerable volunteer base a few years ago from churches, civic and business organizations, and schools for Operation Troop Care, a local effort to collect personal care items for our troops overseas. For this work, she was honored at the national level with the Red Cross’ national Armed Forces Emergency Services Award — the first one ever presented to an individual from the Buffalo Chapter.
Success in Life: Living a life that matters
In her younger days, if you would have told Ruth Hana she’d spend her golden years collecting cans, she’d have said you were crazy.
“But if the Lord says, You pick up some cans,’ I just smile and say, I do the best I can.’ ”
Hana, 75, plucked her first can from a grassy hill on March 30, 1985, as she strolled through the Marquette University campus. She collected 35 cans that day and hasn’t stopped.
There are 29 cans in a pound, Hana says, and each pound yields 55 cents. Unless a friend with a car lends a ride, Hana brings seven or eight pounds for recycling at a time that’s all she can manage by bus. The employees at Felix Bandos Waste Material Co. are used to seeing her about once a week.
“A lot of times I’ll throw in a little extra because I know she gives it to charity,” said Marcus Bandos, whose father owns the place. “She’s always a wonderful person to talk to.”
Hana, chatty and good-humored, keeps meticulous calculations of the charitable donations she’s made over the past 20 years. To date, the amount has reached more than $45,000.
Dress for Success: Helping others on their path to success
The mission of Dress for Success is to advance low-income women’s economic and social development and to encourage self-sufficiency through career development and employment retention. Dress for Success responds to the needs of our communities by providing programs that help economically disadvantaged women acquire jobs, retain their new positions and succeed in the mainstream workplace.
Dress for Success is a not-for-profit organization that offers services to help our clients enter the workforce and stay employed. Each Dress for Success client receives one suit when she has a job interview and a week’s worth of separates when she gets the job. The Dress for Success Professional Women’s Group program then provides ongoing support to help the client build a successful career.
Success Story: Kermit the Frog – Live Your Dreams
The following excerpt was taken from a page
from “A Foundation for a Better Life.”
I think it sums up what dreams are all about!
When Kermit the Frog sprang from the imagination of creator Jim Henson 50 years ago the world was given a new friend whose endearing qualities continue to charm each succeeding generation. Remarkably, most never really outgrow the connection with Kermit. His personality transcends mere toys and action figures because Kermit is someone we know. Weve lived along with him through good days and bad and observed how he keeps a perspective on whatever comes his way. Green and fuzzy, this delightful character has become part of our lives. Jim Henson gives an insight into the comfortable world Kermit draws us into, There is a sense of our characters caring for each other. A positive feeling, a positive view of life. Thats the key to everything we do.Kermit is also a dreamer and an inspiration for our own goals and aspirations. After all, if a Frog can accomplish so much, we can do something too!
Success Strategies
As we think about those dreams we have, consider the following anonymous poem…
My life shall touch a dozen lives
Before this day is done,
Leave countless marks of good or ill,
Ere sets the evening sun.
This, the wish I always wish,
The prayer I always pray;
Lord, may my life help other lives
It touches by the way.
Have a successful day… today.
