This morning I spent a few minutes cleaning out my wallet. Below is a concert ticket from 1997.
It was the only time I saw Prince in concert. Of course he was The Artist at that time. You can’t see that on the ticket… I can’t see that any more. I have been carrying that ticket in my wallet for almost 30 years.
I have pictures of my kids in my wallet, plus almost 10 fortunes I’ve liked so I’ve kept them. I have 6 dollars. A number of punch cards and a few credit cards.
But what got me was a goal I wrote down, folded up, and placed in between some pictures. I wanted to be a keynote speaker by 2017.
At that time in my life I was presenting at educational conferences. Working with schools on different projects, like becoming a 1-to-1 computer or iPad school. I was trained to be a Quality Matters Peer Reviewer to help build robust online learning classes.
I wanted to be a positive force in education. I made some great connections at the conferences. At each conference there was a keynote speaker. I wanted to do that, to be a motivational voice for fellow educators.
I didn’t accomplish that.
Through life and career choices, the keynote dream faded away. Until I found it written on a folded up piece of paper in my wallet.
Sadly, there are so many big dreams I had that now are no longer a real possibility. I will never be a head football coach. I may never even be a head track coach again. I’m not going to be a keynote speaker. And it seems that I’m not going to be a best selling author. I have not accomplished any of my big goals…
I’ve written about this topic before, about how chasing a dream leads to new opportunities. And that is true.
But today, finding a tattered folded dream in my wallet just reminded me of all the goals I have not accomplished.
It is all Connected 