What does that have to do with anything?

I'm a big thinker. A dreamer. An over-achiever. 

Mom raised me to be a "Can-Do" kid - the hot neon words boldly printed on my black T-shirt. Philippians 4:13 was my mantra growing up, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." So if I take that a bit too much to heart, blame my mom.

My number 1 passion in life is to help women realize their full potential. To realize what living an "abundant" life is all about - and I'm not just speaking monetary here either. I'm talking about a deep personal relationship with the Creator of the heavens & the earth. I'm talking about knowing "Whose Your Daddy". Because when you know the answer to that... why question anything else? Why give up on persuing the dreams that have been pressed on your heart? Why settle to struggle for survival? Why doubt that the impossible is possible?

Every small child grows up dreaming of becoming a hero, a world class athlete, a famous pianist, the President of the United States of America. And then one day somebody tells them their dream is impossible. Sadly, that child actually believes them & so their dream ends.

Something like that happened to me once.

When I was a little girl I took piano lessons every week... I would practice every day... and I would dream of being on stage with an auditorium full of people coming to hear ME. Many evenings I would turn off the lights and sit at my piano, I would close my eyes and let my fingers dance on the keys. I would put my soul into my music. My dream was to become an amazing pianist like my uncle, Emile Pandolfi. His music would make me cry; every note that he played would tug at my heart & I would be full of inspiration.

One afternoon I shared my dream with my parents who were very loving & well meaning. Every parent wants the best for their child; but sometimes their past failures cause them to put an unfair expectation of failure on their child's dream. That's exactly what happened to me. As soon as the words came off my tongue, "I want to play just like Emile"... they answered with, "That's great honey, but there's only 1 Emile Pandolfi - he has a gift."

Can you imagine how crushed I was at such a young age? I had such a huge dream and in an instant it was crushed. In an instant I was told that I could never become that famous pianist who could move an amphitheater full of hearts. For a split second I thought to myself, "I will prove you wrong!"... but a split second later I quit my dream altogether. I lost the desire to play piano.

I share this story with you because I believe we all have the right to dream; but we have to be so careful who we share that dream with. Well meaning people close to you will try to "protect" you, by discouraging you. But your dream is not their dream. It's yours. It was God-given to YOU. Protect your dreams, pursue them, and don't let anyone steal them away from you. Who knows where your dream might lead you!

P.S. I titled this blog "Lipgloss & Lollypops" because of the randomness of thoughts you can expect to read from me; all of which are meant to inspire you to become the person God intended you to be.