Dream a little dream with me

Ever hear the saying, “Dreams don’t work unless you do”? Well, it’s much more than just an overly posted cliché Instagram quote. It’s the honest truth, and can be applied to anything. Growing up, I was a good kid. I stayed out of trouble, did my chores, tried not to give my parents a hard time, helped out with my brothers, tried to keep straight A’s, get into a reputable College, help work the family business every day after school, make sure I was a positive role model for the boys and younger cousins who looked up to me, all while getting involved in school, picking up a sport or two, working a few jobs to earn my own money… and find out who I really was and what I wanted to make of myself. Sounds easy enough. But was any of this easy? Absolutely Not. During many of these stages of transitioning from adolescence into early adulthood, I felt like I was going through all of this alone. And for the most part, I was. The oldest child in my entire family, closest to me being my brother with a seven year age gap, I was (and continue to be) caught in a very unrelatable generation by myself where I’m much older than my younger siblings and cousins, yet too young to understand and identify with my older aunts, uncles and parents (cue in my very young bridal party). But, such is life. Everything I went through in those years helped define and shape me into who I am today. And for that I’ll forever be grateful.

As a kid, you’re taught that the sky’s the limit, and there’s nothing in this world that’s out of reach as long as you’re willing to put in the work and try… so why should that change when we grow up and get a little older? People live in such a finite state as adults, thinking the job/ career that matches their degree and/ or their life’s experience is the only thing they can do with themselves because they have made a choice that must be stuck to. For some of you, that will be your reality. You won’t ever venture outside of your comfort zone, you won’t try a new career, you wont’t walk away from your job… because let’s face it- most people just don’t do that. Why? Because it’s too risky. Because you go to school to earn a degree, and that’s what you need to do with your life. Newsflash - it’s 2019. This just isn’t the way the world works anymore. People get fired every day, from jobs they’ve been at forever…jobs they intended to stay at until they retired. Things change. People start new businesses and new endeavors all the time. This is our new reality. A much more common, mainstream reality. Due to something unexpected called a recession, there were less and less jobs available - for basically anyone graduating from College between roughly 2005-2009. (St. John’s University Class of 2006 Stand up!) Thanks for that. So, what do we do? We adjust. We reroute. We make the best of the situation we’re in until something better comes along…or we create that something better. See where i’m going with this? We are the generation of innovators, the generation of creators, and most importantly the generation of Entrepreneurs. Never be afraid to take that jump… it may end up being the best risk of your life ♛