Last Lecture...

Here we are friends, at the end of this semester and the end of another great corse… It is bitter sweet. This not an ending but simply a beginning, there are no true endings in the grand scheme of eternity as long as we do our part. This semester has been quite a ride, I am quite excited to report I am still kicking. Life can offer some interesting obstacles but the Lord will always offer the tools to get through, if we chose to use them. This class has been a tool through these past few months. 

Don’t stop the documentation:

I now stand on the brink of a new adventure and a new set of obstacles. The question remains, will I take the tools of this class and apply them, or allow them to go to waste? As I share the lessons of this semester I feel I am making the first efforts of application. Journalling is key to application, not only does it help you remember but it also helps keep you accountable to the lessons and goals. So first bit of advice in the entrepreneur’s journey is to document every step. 

The Past is important: 

Experiences: 

Everything really does happen for a reason! Next nugget of learning comes from the past, take every experience as a chance to learn and grow and move forward into the future. For those seeking their mission (myself included) great power comes from self reflection and from looking those past experiences. Every experience has lesson that can build our future. Look at Nephi and the boat, do you think he used his building skills he acquired with the boat to later build a city?!?! You bet her did… Everything happens for a reason… 

Live your dream: 

Along with learning from the past is looking for your dreams and checking them off along the way. A few blogs ago I referred back to the “Last Lecture” and how the speaker felt he achieved so many of his dreams. In that blog I applied my own advise to self reflect I say many of my dreams and how they have fallen into place. I am living a dreamers life and I only hope to never stop! A dreamers life is a hard life, but it is a life without regrets. 

The Nitty Gritty Truth: 

Hard times will come: 

Sometimes it is going to just plain stink… Never ever think this journey is an easy one, those thoughts will lead to your demise. Everything that is of worth in this world comes with a price and with a little bit of elbow grease. In the book of Alma the Lord did not take away the burdens of the enslaved Nephites, but when they turned to him they did find their burdens to be lightened. Same applies to life and to business. There will be hard times and there will be struggles but with prayer and faith we will find ourselves yoked with the Lord and our burden made light. “Then if thought shalt endure it well, God shall exhaust thee on high.” Remember this “shall be but a small moment.” (D&C 121:7-9)

Be ready to work and sacrifice:  

In the movie Transformers there is the repeated family quote “No sacrifice, no victory.” Same applies here. Remember that the best things are the things we have worked hardest for. I will never forget the lessons of hard work I learned as my family built our barn. It took long time because we had to level the ground first. We spent hours everyday digging at the hard Colorado granite. Even once the area was flattered we still had to build the structure. The end result brought valuable lessons in hard work, shelter for our animals, building knowledge, and much blood, sweat, and tears. In your journey of entrepreneurship you will work hard and you will struggle. Sacrifice must be made but in the end it will be “for your good.” 

Take the Leap: 

Faith to move forward: 

Here is where I struggle… I fear moving forward… I know fear is not a good thing but it can be powerful. I fear many things in starting my own educational based business. I fear staring, I fear not being successful, I fear what others think. I fear many things but this course has reminded me that I must needs have faith in order to progress and move forward. I need to have faith and trust the Lord and ACT on the prompting he has given me. As the Brazilian people would say, Tudo via certo, everything will work out. I just need to get moving, we all do! We must have faith, though it be small, to move forward and ACT! 

Friends in high places: 

We cannot do it alone! That is hard for me too! However, this course reminded me the vital need to have mentors and others around to help in your vision. None of us is alone in this experience of life and there are many just waiting for us to up to them and allow them to join in the journey. That takes faith a little trust but there is value in bringing others in. Find friends among those you serve as well because in the famous words of high school musical, “we’re all in this together.”

Who comes first? 

“When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives.” Ezra Taft Benson 

This quote is what I want to end with because it is the pinnacle of everything. When we put God first everything falls where it needs to. We are here to learn, grow, and become like him. When we put him first and his commandments we will reap the blessings as go along the journey! If there is anything I want everyone to always know it is that Heavenly Father loves us and when we give him our will and incorporate him in all we do, even business, everything will fall right where it needs to be. Never stop fighting and never stop moving forward, never stop becoming! 

Nearing the end...

I am sad to say that it is near the end of this course. I have loved the lessons along the way and I feel that I have become a better person along the way. Even though the course is coming to an end I hope that this blog will continue as continue on my own journey to fulfill the dreams I have for a better world. This week was another good week full of more interesting lessons.

Once again I find myself blown away by how the weeks learning partner with real life events. I loved that we pulled from the talk by President Thomas Monson about having a life full of gratitude. This week has been a great reminder of my need to be grateful for my experiences, the places I've been, and the people I have met along the way.

This week I went back for a visit to Orlando, Florida. It was a bitter sweet return and I hate to admit but there were some tears. I love that place and the people there. I felt such heart break having to leave once again. I went to the temple while I was there and sat outside for a time and counseled with my Heavenly Father. I had some grumpy un-grateful thoughts of wondering if life would be easier if we didn't have so many experiences and so many wonderful people. Maybe then our hearts wouldn't feel so torn apart. I then quickly received the words from my Heavenly Father that I needed. Some included the need to be grateful for every experience and person I have had the privilege to meet. Then I felt further thoughts of how we need these experiences to grow and understand how to return home to our Heavenly Father. We also need to have a broken heart and contrite spirit as part of our conversion. These feelings of being torn in so many places by some many wonderful people is a sign that we are allowing our heart to be broken. When we decide to take the Lord with us on our journeys and give him those broken hearts. He promises to make them whole and use them to further his great kingdom.

Those were some thoughts I had as I thought about this course and the need to have people and reason for business. These feelings will probably continue but when we involve the Lord we are made great tools.

I also found great meaning in the video about avoiding the wrong carrier. I really loved his questions for those he interviews about what their life story is. I also found great comfort in his advise to not do things for others and to build your resume. Instead do things that you love and that build you!

Some great stuff!

Olhos Fitos na Gloria de Deus.

“Olhos fitos na gloria de Deus…” Quickly became a main theme in my life while I was serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. It means; “…eye single to the Glory of God.” I feel like this was the main message for me this week. I was especially excited for the things I received this week because I love the topic of service and of charity. I feel very strongly that the only way to truly succeed in business is with the help of the Lord, the best way to find that help is by turning outward. I especially loved the talk by Elder Gay about consecration and entrepreneurship. I want so very badly to have my life and business ideas in accordance with the mission my Heavenly Father has for me. I have seen the impact that turning outward can leave you with and it is nothing short of addictive. I can honesty say I am happiest when I am serving others around me. The quote from his father’s wall also struck a cord within; "In the days of service,all things are founded, in the days of privilege, they deteriorate, and in the days of vanity they are destroyed.” Service and charity are key to all success in this life and in eternal life. I hope that I can put myself in a position to always have a charity reflex in all my dealings. As I look to my further dreaming and action for Joy2theJourney I hope to always have a mission and a goal of charity through education. 

I also really liked what he had to say about not seeking after riches. When we seek money and riches, we will fail. We must “seek first the kingdom of God.” If we look we will find constant reminders that life is far more valuable than any riches. This past Sunday I had that reminder in a huge way. Often my roommates and I have the YSAs from our branch over for Sunday dinner. After dinner this past Sunday everyone went home and I sat down getting ready to unwind and prepare for a new week. Minutes after they all left I got a call from one of the girls that one of our guys friends had flipped his truck on our dirt road. I grabbed my brother and we rushed over… I wasn’t sure what we were going to find. As we drove up the dust was still settling and there my friend was walking around with minor cuts and bruises. I have never been so happy to see someone as in that moment. He just moved in our branch and I don’t even know him as well as some of the other folks that hang around, but I wanted to just hug him because of the joy I felt seeing he was okay. While I was cleaning the blood from his arms he was expressing his frustration at ruining his mom’s beautiful truck. Granted, that was not a good thing, but all I could think of was the gratitude that he was okay. Bad things are going to happen and we will go through trials where we lose much. In the end we have to work to find the lessons and the blessings of what is truly important. I want that to always be in my vision as I look forward to the future in business, education, and family. 

There really were so many powerful things from this week that really penetrated. There were many interesting moments this week and the lessons from this week brought sweet reminders of great strength. Another such lesson was when Elder Gay expressed to the audience of how they are special and that their covenants give them the power of God. I felt that on my temple shift this week. When we obey those covenants and do our part the Lord will pull us through, he will not take the burdens and hard things will happen but we will make them light. Sometimes I let myself become overcome with fear of the dreams I have, when in reality I need to trust and move into the storm. I have decided after listening to Elder Gay that Joy2theJourney is not for me, it is focused on rescuing and lifting others. 

Life of Balance...

I continue to be blown away about how the every week matches with real life events. I hit a wall this week of exhaustion, with everything going on in life I just felt a little done. That is never a great place to be in. However, the Lord will never leave you alone. On Wednesday nights I work in the temple as an ordinance worker and I was thinking about life and some of the recent struggles in life. I also thought about class and had the overwhelming feeling that I needed to find balance in my life.

I have a hard time with balance because I feel like there is always too much to do and I have a really really hard time saying no to things. I loved the quote about saying no in the video with Randy Komisar; "Never put yourself in a situation where you can't say no." I have always struggled with this principle and it is starting to take its toll. I am coming to a realization that it is vital to prioritize life and recognize our true stewardships. We also have to have a focus on service but also take the moment to take care of ourselves. I am learning that when we don't take care of ourselves we cannot truly help take care of others around us. It is a hard lesson to learn but it is vital to progression.

I really loved the lessons of this week and hope to work hard to apply them in my life. I want to follow the council of President Monson with his formula for success. These are the things I want to aim for with my business ideas. I know that the application in these things will help me find help with life and balance. It will also help me as I work for my dreams!

We also read the "Attitude of Money." I learned a lot from that as well. I have always been intrigued by money and very cautious with money. I used to never ever spend money but over time I have become a little more lax. Honestly, I feared money for a long time but now I see it as a tool that can be used for good. In the "Attitude of Money"  I especially enjoyed the rules behind wise use of money. I love the concept of including the Lord and commandments in money dealings. That way it helps keep things under better control. I also love the planning part. I think money planning and budgeting is so key to success. Money is something that also has to looked at with balance and caution but it is also important.

To Become...

I was especially excited for this week because of my insight from the interview and because of the reading of the talk "The Challenge to Become." That was the main theme of my mission president when I was serving in Washington DC. When we left he gave us all a special copy in a booklet of our president letters. He often used that talk to teach us as missionaries and encouraged us to continue after the mission to apply these incredible teaching. I love the thoughts of becoming being an ongoing process of conversion. It is a sweet reminder that we are here to become perfect like our Savior but that it doesn't happen all at once. It happens over time as we become truly converted. 

This made me think back to my mission and the connection I made to this talk and my work with cattle. Cattle are one of my greatest passions! One day while reading this talk on my mission and as I was going through a personal study on conversion. I thought of how being converted is having Christ branded on our hearts. I thought of cattle and how they are branded with an element of love by the rancher, to ensure that they will not be lost. When a calf is branded with the brand of it's owner, they, in a way, represent that rancher and send a sign to others of who they belong to. It is the same thing with conversion. When we choose to become converted we choose represent that we belong to our Savior. Of course conversion branding must be continued in order to ensure that it sticks, but the object of the lesson is quite powerful. 

This week I also mentioned my excitement over the interview. I chose my own own mother for my entrepreneur interview. She and my father are the perfect example of powerful entrepreneurs. Their story is one that inspires me to want to create a similar lifestyle for my own future family. This activity helped me connect on a newer level with my mother and the sacrifices made for my siblings and myself. Honestly, this really hit me because until now I never truly realized the impact this lifestyle has made in myself and so many others. As I talked with my mom and wrote my reflection paper, I wept with an incredible amount of gratitude. I know this journey is not easy, but I know that it is worth it! 

Leadership and discipleship

First off I feel like the quote from Woody Allen: "Eighty percent of life is showing up." That summed up some of my greatest learning this week. I have been really struggling with my schedule and all the things I have to do. In almost every aspect of my life right now I feel like I am somehow falling behind or just not doing good enough. This quote helped with the reminder that showing up a lot of the success. I know that we are our own worst critics and that we are often times doing better than we think we are, but it is still difficult to see at times. Especially when it comes to my dreams of Joy2theJourney. I don't feel that I put the time I need and want into this grand dream, but right now I need to just show up for a little while.

Another thing I really loved from this week was the Small "L" leadership. I have always loved that example of leadership with its greatest example, Jesus Christ. I think leadership and discipleship are some of my favorite things to learn about and most important to apply correctly. Recently we have add some issues at work with people I do not feel are using the small "L" leadership. There are too many people trying to control the situation and we are not doing what is needed for the students. There is tension and the students are starting to act out because of it. The example being set is not a good one, the vision is being lost, and the love that is so vital is not being demonstrated a Christ like way.

I hope to take the lessons from these situations and apply them in my own leadership. Right now I am a Para-educator, so my job is to assist the teacher and to follow their council on what is best for the students.  In many ways learning to be humble and learning to follow has made me a better leader and better at handling rough situations. I hope that I can work to be a light to there people and work to keep the example pure, vision clear, and Christ like love in the situation!

You Can Do It...

I think what stood out to me most this week was the reminder that you can do it and to never give up. I especially liked the comparison of Nephi and building the boat. It is an excellent reminder that when we dream and go for big things there will always be those who doubt. Often times we are our own worst enemy and we doubt ourselves more than anyone. I loved the reminders through this week to not give up, not doubt, and not worry about what the world thinks.

This week I went to an amazing play called "The Book of Will." It was an amazing play about the last of the King's Men who were Shakespeare's actors and dear friends. After Shakespeare's death there were issues in the acting community with other company's stealing his work and the plays written by Shakespeare slowly disappearing as his men died off. So his dear friends worked to put together his works in a Folio of what we have today. Through the play they portrayed the difficulty of putting together such a program. It was incredible to see the events that fell into place for the great works of Shakespeare to come together.

I have to say that it really hit me as I thought of my own efforts to fulfill my dreams. Sometimes things seem impossible but they are doable with the right people and the right determination. Not to mention the incredible miracles that come with a strong relationship and devotion to our Heavenly Father. We can do incredible things when we rely on a higher power. In the play they had some powerful moments as they felt the impossible of their task but in a powerful moment in the theatre they found a divine connection that gave them the spirit to complete their task.

I hope to apply these lessons and find the re-boot I need to not be dragged down by the doubt and to rely on the Lord to help me through my journey.

Love the Plateaus...

I really enjoyed the readings this week, especially the talk by Gordon B. Hinkley called "Stand True and Faithful." I especially liked the section that talked about staying true to yourself. I feel like that is one of the biggest issues that face our world today. There are few that are truly comfortable in their own skin and proud of the person that they are meant to be. We live in a world of faces, there are different faces for different groups and occasions. We often get so lost in trying to impress the world and forget where our true allegiance lies.

This week we were also instructed to write a book report on the book "Mastery" by
I appreciated this book and the tools and ideas offered for self mastery. I hope to work to apply its principles in my own life.

What stood out to me the most in the book "Mastery" for this particular week was all of the tools for success on the path of mastery. Also, the reminder to learn to love the plateaus that life brings. The book discuses how in different situations and times in life we hit times when we are doing really well and at an incline. Then we have our times where we hit a plateau. We can either give up on our task and call it a loss or find patience, lessons, and keep moving forward for when we hit another rise. I have had many moments of plateaus in my life and it hasn't always been easy to love them. However, I have always found great joy in them later, only when I stick to my course.

One plateau that still rings fresh in my mind was on my mission. I was called to serve in Brazil but ended up waiting for fourteen months in Virginia for a visa. Ultimately, I did make it to Brazil for my final four months. Not without a time of what I thought was a bit of a plateau. I am pleased to say that I feel I made the best of the situation and I found valuable lessons that I would never change.

Now, here I am having been home for just over two years and plateaus are still coming strong. Recently I have been feeling a little low and little stuck in life. Last week I interviewed for a different position to ensure more stability in my current school. Unfortunately, I did not get the position which was a little rough at first. They explained to me that I was too good with where I was to be moved to that different position. I am still worried about what may happen with my job but I have confidence that I will be put where I need be. I hope to love these plateaus and learn from them so that I can always keep moving forward!

"Own due time."

This week as I read through the readings and went through the usual life events of the week I thought a lot about continuing in self mastery and family. I found a lot of meaning in the videos and readings about family and start up. I thought it was especially interesting the comments about if you are single and trying to do a start up to stay single. That made me think of my own efforts and my own single situation. I don't mind too much, but perhaps this is signs of a good time to get things rolling with my ideas for starting Joy2theJourney. However, I do feel that it is vital to have family involved in the process. There is a special power in a family business. 

I have to admit, sometimes it is a difficulty to be 25 in the LDS faith and still single. There is a culture and mentality that tells you that you are somehow breaking the commandments by not being married yet. The advice given in some of the recent videos and readings was a good personal reminder that perhaps I am still single for a reason. Maybe this is a prime time to take for starting my own business. Either way I am called back to the words in 1 Nephi of "his own due time." A sweet reminder that no matter what the situation is, there is a higher plan. I taught a lesson in Relief Society last week about time management. We talked about physical time management and spiritual time management. I came to the realization once again that when we do the things in our power to prepare physical time then things will work out in spiritual time. Things will work out the way they are supposed to when we are doing our part. Often times the paths that come our way are not what we expect but when we are doing our part they are just what we need. 

I do think that family will ultimately be a main focus in my Joy2theJourney efforts but for now I need a little more personal mastery. I also need to use the networking and family I have now to keep moving forward.  

Find your center...

So this week was a week of mastery... I also happened to watch one of my favorite movies "The Guardians." In that movie those characters we always thought fictional are brought to new light as guardians of all the worlds children. In the Movie Jack Frost is called to be a guardian and is hesitant and rejects the idea at first. However, through the duration of the movie he finds himself and his call, or as Santa puts it his "center."

I really love that thought and the concept behind it. I feel like this is a good example of "Mastery" as was part of the focus in class this week. As we journey along the path of mastery, we journey on the path to finding our "center." It is not an easy path but the difficulty is well worth the effort. When we find our "center" we find our purpose which helps lead to our mission. In the movie Jack Frost finds that his is fun, I often feel that I am far from total discovery of my center, but I would say that I want my center to be JOY! I love joy and I have a deep desire to bring joy to the world, mostly through service and education. My path is only beginning but bringing joy to others is how I feel closer to that abundant life that we read about in the book "The Ministry of Business." 

Along with the continuation of self discovery I also found great wealth in the revelation I received about the need to involve other in my dreams and work. I have fears of sharing the things I want to do, I fear sharing about Joy2theJourney. I fear being rejected, I fear that they will judge my ideas and my dreams. I need to find humility in my dreams, I need to put away the pride of what the world thinks and focus on my Heavenly Father and what I feel is my call. I also need to involve others in order to move forward. I need to learn from them and out away the pride. 

I also really enjoyed the video of the hero's journey. I loved the feeling and inspirations I felt as I seek the desire to have a meaningful life. I love the quote about living every moment like it matters. He even discussed involving others, which has been a big awe-ha recently. Then there were the inspired three questions:

Have I contributed something meaningful? 

Was I a good person?

Who did I love and who loved me?

I want to make goals to make these questions worthwhile in my life and the lives of those around me. I am hope to start a journal soon to see where I stand with those questions at this point in my life. 

Last thing that really hit me was the challenge to ask those around me what I am an expert at? The results thus far were very humbling and very loving. I want to keep asking and see what else I can find. I will ask those I love what I do better than anyone else in the world? 

There were so many other great things in that video that I am hoping to apply in my life... What a great week as the journey continues to find my center! 

More Self Reflection...

This week has been a crazy week but another great one for learning! I really love how the things that are happening in real life can be applied to the things we are learning in our studies. I know that is not an accident.

This week in my life there has been some changes. First off, at work there has been some issues with moving paras around in the district, because I am the most recent hire, I am at the bottom for transferring. Here's the thing, I really love the school I am working at and can't really move because it would make my commute into work almost two hours. With all of this I have decided to apply for a one on one position with a student with extra needs so I can stay at the school. He is an adorable kid and I love working with him.  He will be a lot of work due to medical needs and his size. Along with that change has been some others, including my new calling as first councilor in the Relief Society which will add new adventure for sure. There have been other changes, challenges, and struggles.

Through the lessons of this week I have received reminders that I need to keep moving forward. Most of all, I need to trust the Lord and remember the wise words to put God first in all I do. I also need to apply the principles found in The Ministry of Business. I really loved that book and it's teachings. I loved the ideas of combining business and the principles of the gospel to ultimately find success. With all of the recent changes and some of my recent struggles I have been reminded through my reading of The Ministry of Business that all these things and hold backs are for a reason, though the reason may not be known right now. Sometime in the future I am sure there will be lessons and opportunities that will bring blessings, but only if I make the choice to learn.

I also really enjoyed the assignment to write a personal essay. It was a good reminder of who I am and what I working to become. Becoming was a big part of my mission. Our mission president often referred to us reaching our potential to become more. I sometimes feel stuck and I feel a re-awakening from these sorts of assignments and revelation that I am not alone and that I am not doing too bad.

A Formula for Happiness...

Another great week as I continue through class and the ongoing adventure of self discovery. This week was another great one full of great lessons and insights. There was lot's of talk on honesty and ethics. I especially love the life plan activities. They remind me of a sort of "Self Character Analysis." When I was in high school I took a lot of theatre and for every play I was in I would do a character analysis to better understand the character I was portraying. I got the idea when I was helping teach Shakespeare to make a "self character analysis." It is a long analysis that goes through different phases of self discovery. I am a firm believer that you cannot truly help change the world until you work on you. That is why the life plan activities speak to me. This weeks we made a code of conduct and a list of things we will always do and things will never do. Always a good check yourself activity.

There were a lot of other great things I pulled from this weeks activities. I really enjoyed the Launching Leaders video and the video with the top 10 list of things needed to start a business. My brain works really well in lists and steps. The Launching Leaders one is really fun because I had the incredible opportunity to hear a lot of those things in the lectures from Mr. Richie himself. I served the first part of my mission in Washington DC, South mission at the same time as he and his wife. I have seen how the principles taught in Launching Leaders are life changing. It was fascinating to learn those principles in a mission setting and then work to apply them in my own live and in the lives of those whom we were serving.

The formula for happiness that Elder Richie discusses is something what I heard early on in my mission and continue to strive to live today. It's six steps are simple and powerful.

1. Get up Early
2. Work hard
3. Get your education
4. "Find oil"
5. Make your mark
6. Prepare to serve/Give back

When you devote your time to these steps it truly can become a formula for happiness. I have seen times in my own life when I have worked to put this formula into practice and I have seen incredible results. Basically, this week was full of self discovery. That is how it needs to be, as my mission president always would say, "you need to check yo self, before you wreck yo self." We cannot fully reach potential and reach out to others unless we take the time to improve ourselves.

Keep Dreaming!

Oh boy, I am so on fire this week about all the learning and

principles taught. There was lots of items shared about finding

one’s calling in life, bucket lists, stars, and of course last

lectures. This has been an interesting week because of life events and how they match up with what we are learning. It is like the Lord plans it that way! In this entry I want to focus on three main things I learned aside from the items learned in the “Last Lecture.” One thing that hit me was from the talk by Jeffery Thompson entitled

“What is your Calling in Life?” I was moved by his opening

question about our own callings in life. I also was hit hard by the

assignment to make our top 50 bucket list and the revising of old

bucket lists and the items I have completed. Finally I learned a lot from the last lecture and his fulfilling of

childhood dreams.  

What is your calling? 

In the “What is your calling in life?” talk Brother Thompson

began with his own story of discovering his life calling and then asked the soul serving question… “What is your calling in life?” Not only did that strike a cord but he backed it up with some of my favorite historic examples, that pulled an extra chord on the heartstrings of this Colorado Cowgirl. It made me think a lot all week about my “calling” in life. This was an excellent week for such pondering. I don’t know the exact moment I felt my “calling”  but it seems to have stuck for quite sometime.  

When I think about my “calling” I think of my sincere desire and

passion to teach, care, and bring joy to the lives of others. It is

through teaching, serving, strengthening, and bringing joy that I

honestly feel my own joy increase. I would say that is why I love my

job so much, I currently work as a para-educator with severe needs

teens at a local high school and I love every minute. I love being

with the kids and learning from them and their unique perspectives. My "calling" has spouted dreams as well. Ever since I was little I wanted to start a school. Now that I am older that dream has turned to the desire to start a facility dedicated to teaching others how to be more self reliant, a “how to fish” education. I honestly feel that education is what will bring true strength and joy in our lives. After all, aren’t we here with the purpose to learn? That is what I want to do! I want to truly teach and inspire people, and I have been told I am not too bad at it either. I just need to work hard on improving my skills and not doubting the gifts given by my Heavenly Father.  

Bucket list:  

(One of my favorite bucket list check off... Swimming with beluga whales).

I love bucket lists! I feel very passionately that we should all have a bucket list. We have to have experiences and we have to have goals if we want to grow and progress. A bucket list combines those

beautifully. It is goal list for creating experiences. During the

assignment to create a top 50 bucket list I felt the need to look at

past lists. It has been a while since I last reflected so it was fun

to see what I had put on in the past. I am overjoyed to report that I have knocked of more that I thought I had. As I looked through the

lists I recalled memories and things learned which was a precious

experience. 

The Last Lecture: 

Finally some thoughts on the last lecture. I love this so much, maybe because he worked with Disney, and it is very inspiring. I find it inspiring as he talked about his childhood and his dreams, and how he accomplished so many. I think he was able to accomplish so many because of a few different things. First off, his foundation. He talked about his family and his childhood and the love he had for both. He talked about how he was given freedom to dream and imagine, and write on the walls. Second thing, he worked. Dreams are nothing without some good hard work. We learn from the head dreamer Disney himself that these two principles of dreaming and hard work can go a long way.  

Reading about his childhood dreams coming true caused some great

reflection in my life (basically this was a week full of self

refection). I thought about my own childhood dreams and how many of

them have come true in some ways. I thought of my childhood dream to

be a Disney princess and live in Cinderella’s castle, no joke, in

third grade I dressed as a princess on career day. I never was chosen to actually portray a Disney princess but I basically worked and lived at Cinderella’s castle for two years and it was magical. I had many little girls look to me as a princess as I sent them on there way through “The Happiest Cruise that ever Sailed.” That for sure made

me feel like a princess. On a spiritual side, when I first went to

work at “It’s a Small World” It was my first time on my own and

the beginning of the adventure that would help my find more confidence in the knowledge that I was princess of my Heavenly Father. Another dream I had a child was to be an animal biologist. I would scout the backyard for critters and pretend I had my own TV show. I may never have been on television but I did work as an animal educator at both SeaWorld and Disney’s Animal Kingdom for a few years where people from all the world paid for my knowledge in tours and info. These are just a couple of the things I thought of as I reflected. What a comforting feeling to know that some of your dreams have come true and that there are always new ones for the future! I look forward to completing the rest of my childhood dreams, in one form or another. I also look forward to the new dreams that will unfold as I continue on this journey.  

It is such a blessing that we have a dreamer for a Heavenly Father. It is inherent for us to be dreamers. Without dreams there is no passion and no drive to move forward and progress. I firmly believe that dreams are a foundational part of our make up as children of God. Dreams are what propel us unto the future and remind us what we have to work for and look forward to. I will never forget the testimony I gained of dreaming when I worked at Disney World and watched the children enter in with their eyes and heart in pure wonder. Dreams are what keep us childlike. We know from the scriptures that children will inherit the kingdom of God and we cannot be like them unless we go out and dream a little! I hope that I will never lose my will and desire to dream!  

Keep dreaming and have a magical night! 

Let the Journey Begin...

I am the Colorado Cowgirl! Who is she really? Well, she is a small

town Colorado Cowgirl with big dreams of adventure, education, family, and bringing Joy to the whole world. When this cowgirl was about seven years old she watched and worked with her parents and siblings as they grew a speck of an idea into a HVAC/Portable Evaporative Cooling company that is top in its industry. You could literally say that our Colorado Cowgirl was raised in a warehouse. It was not an easy way of life but it has been one that this little cowgirl would never trade for anything. As I, the Colorado Cowgirl, continue into adulthood. I have decided on one thing, I want that life for myself and my future family.  

I am so excited to be writing this blog as I work to better myself

and hopefully fulfill my dream to bring Joy2theJourney to all those

that I may have opportunity to touch. I am looking forward to beginning an online entrepreneurship course where I plan to learn and discover more about myself and my mission in life, and how I may help others. This blog will serve as a journal for this adventure. I have a heritage of entrepreneurship and have seen the blessings, hardships, and passion that can come from such a lifestyle. I have already learned quite a bit and look forward to continuing.  

I have already learned so much as I have read through the material

of this course. There are many things that have stood out to me thus

far. One thing that is cool is how I have seen things open up in my

mind of how to move forward in my dreams. As I read through the

readings this week, I had names and faces of  individuals come to my

mind that may be able to help me in my endeavors. I also felt an

increase of responsibility to do everything to do my best, especially as I watched the talk from President Hinckley. I felt a need to reach up and reach out to fulfill my potential. I also liked in the readings where there was talk of failure. Recently I received great prompting of the importance of failure and how it is a key part of our purpose on earth. Without failure we cannot truly grow and we cannot truly learn and become better. I am a little nervous of the failures, but I hope by making the preparations I am now I will be able to learn from the failures instead of give up from them. 

This will be a fun and exciting semester and I look forward to the

continuation in lessons and applications.