If you can dream it, you can do it. Start now!

"If you can dream it, you can do it. Start now." - Cameron Johnson
Author, Speaker, and Entrepreneur

Quick Facts:
• Started his first company at age 9
• At age 15, he was an advisory board member for a large Tokyo-based company
• By age 21, he had started 12 successful businesses
• Runner-up on the hit reality show, Oprah's Big Give
• Featured in more than 200 newspapers, magazines, and television stations worldwide
• Speaks to audiences around the world
• Author of the book You Call The Shots
• Now consults with Fortune 500 companies

As a kid, I was very competitive. It didn't matter whether I was playing sports, working in class, or earning money. I looked at everything as a challenge and I always wanted to be the best.

Dancing in the Rain

This one is another gem I got from my email. It's from the Chicken Soup of the Soul newsletter and I'm posting it because the message is very inspirational. Hope you'll like it too.

From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive 

Dancing in the Rain by Jeannie Lancaster

Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain. ~Author Unknown

My husband and I had just finished having dinner at a local restaurant and were enjoying strolling through the stores in an adjacent shopping center. We went into a shop that sold handcrafted items in hopes of finding a few last-minute Christmas gifts. The scent of handmade soaps and potpourri teased our noses as we walked through the door.

There was a lot to see. Every shelf and wall was loaded with different crafters' handiwork. As I walked through the store, I noticed a wooden plaque hanging unceremoniously on a wall. I turned to take a second look and remember shaking my head "yes" at the message printed on the plaque. Moving on, I enjoyed looking at other items in the store, but found myself being drawn back to the plaque.

Standing in front of the plaque, I felt a little like a child who, when digging through the sandbox, finds some unexpected treasure — a shiny quarter or a lost toy. Here among the other handmade items, I found a very simple, yet profound treasure hidden in a message. A message I needed.

The best gift of all

This is another article from the Chicken Soup for the Soul weekly bulletin that I got from my email. It talks  about the best gift that a father can give his child which, unfortunately, many parents these days could not give their children. This gift is something you cannot buy but is the most treasured of all gifts when given to children. Hope you all like this as much as I liked it. This is something we all should think about.

From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Dad

The Best Gift of All by Mary Jo Marcellus Wyse

Kids spell love T-I-M-E. ~John Crudele

"Look! There's Dave Righetti!" My dad pointed at the taller of the two men leaving Cleveland Municipal Stadium. It was dusk and shadows had started to creep up the pavement, leaving us in cool summer shade.

"Really?" I stared at the Yankees pitcher. We'd been waiting for a half hour for the players to shower, change and head out so that I could nab some autographs.

"Go!" my dad said, but I was already scooting towards Rags, my ball and pen in hand. When I returned to my dad, triumphantly holding the signed baseball in the air, my dad leaned down and said, "Did you know that was Steve Sax with him?"

The second baseman? I gasped, spinning around, but the Yankees had already disappeared. "Darn." My dad laughed and clapped a hand on my shoulder. Maybe next time.

Thanks Dad

Got this from the email. It's a story from the Chicken Soup for the Soul weekly bulletin. I was deeply touched after reading it and I thought I'd share it with you.

From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Dad

Thanks Dad by Cynthia M. Hamond

To a father growing old nothing is dearer than a daughter. ~Euripides

Every year of my childhood, our family of six would take a summer vacation. Over the Sacramento River and through the Idaho woods to our grandmother's house we'd go.

Trips were simpler then. No itinerary, no restaurants, no motel reservations, no travel kits or GPS units dictating the miles. Just a few old maps, historical landmarks, rest sites and Burma-Shave signs marked our route along the highway.

We were a large family on an educator's budget so we packed our own food, slept in the car while our parents drove through the night, or stayed at the welcoming homes of our relatives for reunion family fun from the West Coast to the Midwest prairies of North Dakota.