One day when visiting my best friend, I asked him, “What’s the ultimate dream? Your ultimate dream. The sky is the limit.” After a short pause, he replied, “I have no sky.” I was speechless. What a perspective. When you work day and night to make a dream come true, I firmly believe that you have a different perspective on life, on making your dreams come true and making your future brighter than all of your yesterdays (and this friend and his amazing wife are doing just that!)

When you were younger, what was your first dream? Why did this dream appeal to you? Did you dream of being a doctor, teacher or lawyer? Did you dream of changing the world, being a superhero or MVP of the World Series after hitting the winning homerun in the bottom of the 9^th inning? It doesn’t matter what your dream was or what your passion is today, what matters is that you continue to follow your heart every single day to make your current dreams come true.

I am 31 years old and I have my dream job. Now don’t get me wrong, my dreams have certainly changed and taken different shapes over the years and I haven’t accomplished them all yet but for the past 12 years I’ve had a dream of loving what I do and doing what I love – helping others understand and appreciate the agriculture industry. And today, I work for an organization whose mission is exactly that. I won’t lie by saying it was easy to sit back and simply wait for the job of my dreams to fall into my lap, but in fact it was harder than anything I ever imagined.

When I was in 6^th grade, my teacher gave our class an assignment to write an autobiography. Little did I knew that I had a lot to say about myself at that point (it’s a lot harder to do now a days when life seems a lot more complicated). So off to the races I went and I started typing away and telling my life story about growing up on a farm and talking all about my family and then came the page (or 5) where I talked about my dreams and goals in life. I was in 6^th grade and I was going to go to law school, mainly because my dad told me that as soon as I passed the Bar exam he would buy me one of those fancy corner desks. (I’m still waiting) But my dreams didn’t stop there. After being a lawyer I wanted to become the local judge in my hometown and then go onto become a Supreme Court Justice and then obviously, the President of the United States. Oh and I also dreamt of being a meteorologist. Not bad for being a teenager but then I got to high school and reality hit. Penn State University was the dream and I was going to become a famous sports journalist and work for ESPN and make it big in corporate America. How could you go wrong with living the big life in the big city? Well, I tried the big city life, loved the city lights, the night life, sports galore and so much to do – never a dull or boring moment, ever. Until you realize that this isn’t the life for you and you find yourself dreaming, again. You see, dreaming never ends. And it never should. The moment you stop dreaming is the moment you stop living.  

Needless to say I’m not a lawyer, meteorologist or will ever be President of the United States and I’m not a famous ESPN journalist. But, I am still a dreamer and making those dreams come true doesn’t come without hard work, dedication, blood, sweat, tears and a whole lot of passion. Now I don’t want you to think that making your dreams come true is easy. I’ve literally hit rock bottom before (more on that at a later time) but the lessons I learned, the people that helped me and the foundation for which I built my life back up are priceless.

So no matter when you started dreaming, whether it was because a teacher made you write
a paper or a friend gave you a different perspective, never stop. It doesn’t matter whether your dreams are to be a cattle rancher, the CEO of a company, president of the United States or simply someone who makes a difference in the world – don’t limit yourself.

I have new dreams each and every day. I like to think that I’m a day dreamer and a night thinker (hence the reason these posts are posted in the early morning hours of the day) but one thing will always remain true in my life – I’ll never stop dreaming and I’ll never stop having the passion for making those dreams come true. Find your support system that helps you think differently and you’ll be amazed at how much more determined you are to make your dreams come alive because you’ll be living with no sky.

So thank you to that 6th grade teacher who made me start dreaming and writing and to my two best friends who dream with no limits and continue to work hard every single day to make them come true. You’re an inspiration!