Have you ever started a project only to get half way through and give up on it? Or have you ever dreamed of changing careers, researched everything, and then decided not to? We all have dreams of things we want to do, ideas for inventions, new careers that might make us happier or fulfill us more, but how many of us actually get up, make a change, or change directions to bring our dreams to reality? There is a little article I found this morning that proves that if we follow our dreams and persistently strive to fulfill them, we will eventually be rewarded. The article is about an 84 year old man who worked as a paper hanger into his 70's and loved to tinker with things in his basement. He was always working to bring one of his ideas to life, creating a new gadget, game, or tool that could make life easier or more fun. He was an inventor, yet with over 80 inventions under his belt, none had made it big time till recently when his idea caught the attention of a small company. His invention that made it, Dabble, is a word game that is simple, catchy, and fun to play. It wasn't that his other ideas weren't good enough, it was a matter of getting his foot in the door to get a company to recognize his efforts and look at his ideas. But in the end, his persistence paid off because now his word game is being sold across the country and the company that is marketing his idea is also going to be creating a Dabble app for smart phones.
What would have happened if this man, George Weiss, had stopped tinkering when he turned 80? What if he had just gotten frustrated that none of his other inventions made the big time and shut down his basement tinkering shop? He didn't stop, he didn't give up, he simply did what he loved to do; attempt to bring his ideas to life in his basement. We could all learn from this man in his 80's who never gave up what he loved and followed his passion to fruition. Most likely, just because he invented a game that made it big, he will not stop tinkering in his basement. I am sure that in part, his tinkering is what is keeping him going and allowing him to keep his wits about him. Imagine if we all just followed our passions, put our energy behind them and followed through. For one, I can imagine there being a lot more happy people out there than there are right now. There are many people who feel stuck where they are, not moving forward in life, just existing. What is keeping those people from following their passions? I think a big part of it is life in general. We all get caught up in making ends meet, providing for our families, and just waiting for the weekend to come when we can relax and not do anything. Life is a big obstacle, especially when we have so many responsibilities we need to attend to, yet we can't forget our passions or what drives us. We need to take time for ourselves to do what we love. If what we love to do is work, then so be it, but for many people, what they love to do is so much more than just work.
The other big obstacle to any passion we may decide to follow is change. Often times, when we have an idea or direction we want to pursue, it requires making a change in our daily lives to accommodate our idea. When we get into a routine, it is especially hard to break from it and change directions, yet sometimes this is what we need to do. Change is usually hard, yet in the end, extremely rewarding if we are capable of embracing that change and rolling with the punches. So many people are afraid of change simply because they don't know what it will do to their lives. However, if people can overcome their fears, embrace change, and move forward in a new direction, the possibilites are endless and change alone will teach us how to be more accepting of the small changes that take place in our lives. I guess in the end what this all boils down to is doing what you love. If we all just entertained a small part of our passion, then we could open doors that might previously would have seemed closed and locked. Embrace today for tomorrow may not be there. We all must live life to the fullest, take hold of what we have and run with it. Today, take some time to examine where you are going in life, what you are doing, and what your passions are. Don't be afraid of making changes, it will only improve your life in the long run.
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