How to make your dreams come true

For as long as I can remember my dream was to photograph people and work as a photographer. I remember looking at photo on LIFE magazine or National Geographic were they take amazing photographs of children around the world and thinking ...if only I had the money, connections and resources. Oh Well... Years went by and when I look at where I'm today, I'm so thankful and blessed that I took matters on my own hands and made this dream come true. You may asked ...what happened or what changed ? well to be honest I got sick and tired of waiting for something to happen. Simple--- I took the first step !  You can't specked things to change if you don't change anything... Sounds silly but it's true. The way you do this is by focusing on what the next smallest step is that you can take toward what you want.

Another big thing that changed was that for so long I was secretly holding to my dreams, I mean, sure I would "joke " about how it be great if I could do this and that, but I never really said it as a serious conversation and when you’re the only one that knows about your dreams it allows for self doubt to creep in and talk you out of them. But why did I do this ? Because of fear of failure, plain and simple. 

I remember I had an Auditor friend that came to me at work and said. I'm sick of this job I'm going back to school to become a Engineer. I looked at him like he had three heads ! WHAT??!! he was like: I don't care about accounting anymore and I don't care if I have to pay my student loans forever. To be honest at that moment, I admired his courage. So what if he changed his mind later on --- he was giving himself the confidence to go and do it, convincing yourself IS the hard part, is a constant battle against your own insecurities. That is why we need people around us to know and cheer us up !

So here are my dreams for next year :

#1 I want to buy a house in  4  bedrooms and 3 baths and a basement, somewhere in the beautiful but very expensive Hudson Valley, New York. I pray to God about this everyday. Because as a home owner since 2007 (yeah! exactly ) It's been extra hard to save up to get out of our current condo.

#2 I want to travel to Patagonia, Argentina. My father past away from pancreatic cancer 6 years ago and till this day I remember him saying to me, that I should do that journey at least once in my life. When he did it,  he found out a lot about life and humanity. As a tribute to him I want to take that journey also.

#3 This is getting easier as I write more..:) I want to get married in the church... OMG ! Yes that's right Tom and I got married only in a civil union surrounded by wonderful friends and family (best wedding ever!!) Our initial plan was to married in the church back in Venezuela, but when my Dad past away a month after our wedding, I did not want to do anything anymore. But now I do.

Well there it is a long journey, but I hope this helps you and me think more about our dreams and talk about them, so that one day they can come true.

-Mariana