The Dreamer

I just took one of those surveys on Facebook. You know. Answer these questions and find out something about yourself. This one had to do with what Bible character you were most like. I got Joseph. No surprise to me.

I've always been a dreamer. My feet on the ground and my head in the clouds. Dreamers often feel misunderstood because they are. At almost 60 years old, I feel like I've been misunderstood for almost 60 years.

In 1978 I opened a little coffee shop in The Dalles.  We sold kitchen gadgets, pottery, knickknacks, and, yes, coffee. Whole bean coffee, ground coffee, bulk teas, brewed coffee of the day, and pastries. A few tables for people to come and enjoy their coffee and linger. We were located across from the State offices, a good location it seemed.

I found my grinder, my coffee, my teas and supplies from a little unknown company in Seattle named Starbucks. They had only one retail store at the time. A hippy-looking woman named Jean, in a long tie-dyed skirt and long hoop earrings, who managed their warehouse helped me decide which varieties to stock. 36 years ago what I was doing was unique, innovative, edgy, a dream. Was I misunderstood by those around me? Oh, sure.

Well, I only lasted a year. It was a great dream, just 15 years too early. My only regret is buying stock from that fledgling little company instead of buying stock in that fledgling little company. But of course, they hadn't gone public yet.

Have you ever had a dream that didn't work out for one reason or another? Was your dream a good dream? I'm sure it was! It may have been the wrong time, wrong place, wrong circumstances, yet the right dream.

Many of the most successful people are those who have had countless dreams not work out on the road to the one dream that did work out. What if they had quit dreaming just one dream away from the one that put them over? Don't stop dreaming, no matter how many "failures" you've had. The one that does come true may be the one that changes the world.