The Problem with Dreaming…

I wanted to share with y’all a little bit of my heart this morning. I’ve been chatting with my Tribe girls, well, maybe giving them a slight spanking is more accurate.

I’m currently sitting here in Park Cities, just looking around at the beauty that is out here. I was telling the girls, “You know, I think the problem with dreaming is this: when you’re part of an incredible opportunity, doing something different takes a different level of thinking. The problem with dreaming bigger is that we dream at a high level of income, but we walk out at a low level of activity. I mean, take this balcony view we have here where we are staying in Park Cities. We have this because we have lived a balcony-view life. We have lived a 3 story life. We have lived 3 story activity. We put in more hours of work, blood, sweat and tears than most people will ever understand. Today, nine years later, we get to live this out on Spring Break.

Those of you that are back at home are waiting to go on a Spring Break trip until you can take one like this once you've reached whatever level it is you’re desiring in your company, life, or situation. Don't wait. Never forget your local activities. I told the girls this morning, “You’re not with us because you can’t afford where we are right now. But you know what you can afford? Get your kids in the car and take them to the Ft. Worth Zoo or take them to LegoLand at the Grapevine Mills Mall. You can afford to take them to the local park and do things within your city. Don’t waste a Spring Break because you didn’t get done what you needed to for a 5 star vacation.”

People are able to watch my life after nine years of getting to work, and you don’t realize the number of Spring Breaks we took in Dallas. You don’t realize the number of Spring Breaks we took while Daddy was still working all day. Don’t waste 8-10 hours of your day waiting for Daddy to be in a picture and he’s home for only 1-2 hours that you can maximize. Our kids can’t depend on a Spring Break according to whether or not you did what you said you were going to do, or if you feel sorry for yourself and you’re still at home. Staycations are awesome when you haven’t really gotten paid to do what you want to do. Then maximize a staycation. Don’t let a Spring Break come and go feeling sorry for yourself that you’re not in Park Cities skiing with us. That was my heart for the girls.

The problem with dreaming is we wait for Turks and Caicos, and we miss Destin, Florida. We wait for Hawaii, and we miss Gulf Shores, Alabama. We wait to be able to go do Disney World, and we miss the aquarium in Ft. Worth. We wait to go on these extravagant vacations, and every year keeps piling up while our kids are growing up right before our eyes. There’s so much to do in your local city.

I want to share a story, and I have permission from Jamie to share this. They just got back from Disney, because Steven and Jamie do what it takes to be able to afford the life they live. They took their kids to Disney and had a “YES!” week, had a “YES!” opportunity, had a “YES!” day. They get home from Disney and landed Dallas to stay here a couple of days. Brandi and Jamie took the kids to the Mattel toy store there in the metroplex, and Jamie said this to me this morning, as I was giving the girls some of my personal wisdom, “We had just gotten back from Disney, and Parker said, ‘The Mattel day was the best day ever!’”

I really want you guys to think about that. Our kids don’t know that it’s the deepest desire of our hearts to take them to Disney. Our kids don’t know that you want them to see this kind of beauty. Our kids don’t know that. They just know that it’s Spring Break. They just know that they’re out of school. They just know that there’s memories and laughter to be made. That’s all they know. So they’re not going to say to you, “Wow Mom. I can’t believe we’re not in Park Cities, Utah.” They’re going to say, “Wow Mom. I can’t believe I have to play video games all day. I can’t believe we’re putting in yet another movie.”

You guys don’t wait on Park Cities. Don’t wait on Disney. Don’t wait on Turks and Caicos. Don’t wait on the greatest things of your life when you could be doing the everyday things of your life and enjoying every moment with your children. I said to the girls this morning, “So many people would never know the Spring Breaks I made, just me and the boys. We would go: Day 1 - to the museum. Day 2 - to the Ft. Worth Zoo. Day 3 - to the park. Day 4 - Chuck E Cheese. Day 5 - whatever that little place is in Dallas. Day 6… we had a great time. They didn’t know they were missing out on Park Cities, Utah. They knew we were having a great time because I was sweating the small stuff at home." But you know what, here’s the reality. No matter what business you represent, this is for you. Mom and Dad continued to live in the trenches of life. Mom and Dad continue to work our butts off for this moment. Nine years for this moment. It’s only been about the last 3 Spring Breaks that we’ve been able to do everything our hearts desired. But our boys didn’t know any different. They loved our businesses because our businesses meant “YES!” for them. Whether it was the Ft. Worth Zoo, or whether it was Turks and Caicos. It was a “YES!” to them. Your kids are looking for a YES. Your kids are looking for laughter. Your kids are looking for memories. Your kids are looking for time spent having a great time. They’re not looking at a map, and they’re not holding you accountable to the map.

I will say this to you: Never stop dreaming. But don’t get caught in the problem with dreaming when you are waiting and waiting. Reagen is in Lake Tahoe skiing with a bunch of friends, and Brian and I are here in Park Cities with Riley, my sister and my brother in law, and my niece and nephew. I said to Reagen, “Hey buddy, how was that journey? Do you miss the plane?” They drove for three days. He said, “You know what Mom, I had such a great time on the road between the conversations and playing 20 questions. There’s just something about a road trip, isn’t there?” I said to him, “You know what, there really is.” We are in a season where we can afford to fly everywhere we go. We haven’t always been here. Just like I said to the girls the other day, “Get your butt in the car and drive to Destin. What about that sand? Don’t just sit and think about Turks.” We went to Destin as successful business owners because we were still trying to catch our breath from a foreclosure and a bankruptcy. Our kids just love sand.

I hope I’m speaking to someone here. Remember, it’s what I said to the girls this morning. You can’t dream at a Millionaire’s check and walk out low level activity. If you’re willing to walk out a low level activity, then own it. And that’s okay. But if you see a Millionaire’s check, it’s fantastic. You’ve got to do the work that it takes to stand in Park Cities in a three story home with this incredible view as our backyard. We’ve done the work. We’ve traveled the miles. We’ve stayed up the nights. We’ve loved people when they were unloveable. We’ve done the things that people weren’t willing to do. We’ve helped people when they were not willing to be helped. Because we have done that year after year, we get to live it today. However, we did not penalize our children waiting for this moment. If you ask my boys, they’ve had the best life ever since we said “Yes” nine years ago to a company that changed so much for us. Because I’ve used every chance that I could to say “Yes!” even if it was in Dallas, TX. Even if it was Ft. Worth, TX. What matters is that I made the best opportunity to make the best memories ever. You know how I know this is for somebody? I have a lump in my throat. That’s how I know. I know there’s moms out there that need to hear this right now. Never stop fighting for your dreams. Ever. But also, never stop enjoying the moments because your kids grow up. Reagen’s not with us. This is his first Spring Break ever that he’s out on his own. He’s 20 now. We still got to say, "Yes buddy, we’ll pay for you to go to Lake Tahoe because we can. We want you to see every mountain in this world."

Never stop dreaming of these moments. However, let’s not punish our children because we haven’t quite arrived at the paycheck it takes to live a 5-star vacation.