I need to dream. It’s the way I restore and rejuvenate my brain. In the olden days, I would dream about building a place for girls to learn and grow together. A place to form bonds that would make them stronger and more resilient. A haven to develop ways of being and thinking that they could take with them to make Girl World a kinder, more harmonious place. That dream has taken shape in the form of a 22,000 square foot volleyball/training center owned by the Girl Power for Good Foundation, which houses 850 Elite Volleyball Academy. The place that feels like a hug when you walk through the door, where girls from 8-18 can learn all the things I dreamed about for years of raising four girls. Does that mean my dreaming is done? Yes and No.
When you build your dream, no one tells you about the maintenance of it. Kinda’ like when you have a baby, no one really tells you about the overwhelm. How you will never get a moment's peace in your home until they go to school. And then school brings its own set of challenges with your baby being thrown into a mosh pit of other kids, who have vastly different ways of being and doing. The dream of having kids is so much cleaner and more organized.
But that’s the thing about dreams, the reality of it is tedious and messy, and wonderful and surprisingly humbling.
With my dream, I went from creator, a job I love, to manager, a job that feels sometimes like I have 150 toddlers, all lurching toward the top of the nearest staircase, you know the one you forgot to gate, because you were busy doing payroll.
A dream in theory is bright and shiny. If you can work hard enough to build it, you think it will run itself. But then you realize there is no one to run it the way you would, because they aren’t you. And then you learn to train people better, and they still aren’t you, so you end up doing A LOT yourself.
This is the real price of living a dream, and it’s still worth it. Just like being a parent is worth it, no matter that you are signing up for a life of mess, dirty laundry, illness (because kids are tiny Petrie dishes), and exhaustion. Because, that’s also a life of hugs, chocolate covered kisses, and meaning.
The dreaming is worth it. Even if making your dreams come true means you have to fight for the space to keep dreaming. The grit I encourage my girls to show on and off the court is the same grit I use on the daily to keep writing, when I don’t feel like writing, and doing a video when all I want to do is watch someone else’s. Grit is the ability to separate your emotions from your actions and keep moving forward, even when it’s hard.
So, move forward on one of your dreams—bring it into existence, even if the form is imperfect. Being a creator is worth the price tag of managing your creation. Living a life of legacy and meaning is worth the price of dreams.
XO
Terri
P.S. If you need help dreaming email me at terrif@findyourpride.org, or go here: https://girlpowerforgood.org/life-coach/
