So many times in our lives we often fail to dare to dream because we believe that the chance for success is so low that it is hardly worth the effort. What we often fail to realize is that it is usually those small dreams that find their way into very big realities. Never was that more evident than the dream that I had for the Bring Smiles to Seniors program that I started almost five years ago.

I first recognized the need to remind seniors that they were loved while visiting my grandmother in her nursing home. I had a dream to turn the faces of those that I saw who were sad and lonely to having a smile and happiness that someone had reminded them that they were important. All I wanted was a few cards to deliver to the residents of my grandmother’s community, to make a difference in their lives for that one moment. However, I knew after that first act, that I was dreaming too small and I needed to go bigger and better. I also knew that the scary aspect of dreaming bigger meant that it was a dream worth pursuing.

The process to create a nonprofit, obtain your tax exempt status and build donors and donations, brought scary to a whole new height. I knew that if I could be successful, the payoff for dreaming bigger was going to be far greater than anything that I could have ever imagined. “If you believe it, you can do it,” became a mantra that would make every twist and turn along the journey worth the payoff that was waiting at the end of each effort. From over 7,000 cards delivered the first year, to greater than 200,000 in 2020, people I met along the way who became a part of the dream as it grew helped scary become satisfaction. Had I been content with that initial effort and failed to dream bigger, the ability to touch lives all across the country and in other parts of the world would have never materialized.

Second guessing ourselves is easy. Staying within our comfort zone and away from that which is scary is also easy. However, when we believe that the results of our efforts will be far greater than any discomfort we may experience along the journey, the ability to create magic makes dreaming big one of life’s most pleasurable experiences.