The Pursuit of Life’s Dreams

Cat posters always have catchy phrases promoting positive living and the pursuit of dreams. Most children dream of being a famous athlete or actor. When we are young we have high hopes and aspirations. The older we get our dreams are usually met with unanticipated challenges, obstacles and roadblocks. I’ve been a dreamer ever since I can remember. I’ve had a ton of dreams dashed against the rocks. Early on it was easy to let people hold me back, you know the folks that say you are crazy for trying something so outlandish.

Beekeeping at one time was a dream. When I wanted to start, I was my worst enemy. I was worried I couldn’t do it and was uncertain about it all. Then, a friend helped me jump in with both feet. Years later I had a dream of making a living from beekeeping. I first pursued trying to have enough hives to make a  living from honey, back when honey was a dollar a pound. That was challenging. But I held to my dream and simply changed my approach. In the early years I lost and wasted lots of money. But I continued to hold to my dream of making a living in beekeeping. I love beekeeping so much that I was determined to make a living beekeeping. That dream was slowly realized over the last decade but I had to do many things I did not know about. Had I known about all of those challenges I think I would have thrown in the towel.

I took baby steps. First, I dreamed of making my own hives. I did and they looked nice so I sold a few on EBay. Then around 2005-2006 I started sharing on my blog what I was learning about honey bees. Soon I had a huge following of interested people. Then my dream was to sell more hives we built on EBay and I quickly became a power seller. Then I used my web skills and designed my own website. Then I wanted to teach others about beekeeping but I felt I needed to know more, so I studied long and hard and went to conferences and classes. Even then I felt like I didn’t know enough so I knew that if I pursued becoming a certified master beekeeper it would force me to learn more. So I spent 2 years reading and studying more and more. In 2010 the pursuit of becoming a certified MB was taking its toll. I was low on money and time. I had convinced myself that if I couldn’t get certified in 2010 I’d forfeit trying. I worked really hard and in 2010 I passed all my tests. That was a huge accomplishment for me, and another dream fulfilled. So you see where I’m going with this, right? A dream costs so much. But if it is really what you want to do, why not work hard and make it happen.

Slowly over the years Sheri and I continued to be loyal to our customers and class students and they appreciated our sincerity and stuck with us and new customers and students continue to support us and our dream is being fulfilled. It is very rewarding.

Look at my dream to have 50,000 subscribers on my YouTube channel. But now I have a Silver Play Button Award with 137,000 subscribers as of early 2024. Never give up on a dream. Sometimes you reach them fast, and sometimes you spend a lifetime. One thing I have learned is that the pursuit of a dream is probably more rewarding than finally reaching it. It is the process that really matters.

I had a dream to place all six of my beekeeping classes online and this year I worked hard and fulfilled another dream.

What is your dream?  I’ve learned a bunch about pursuing dreams from beekeeping. Sometimes if we overcome challenges in one area of our lives, like finally becoming a beekeeper, it builds our confidence to pursue other dreams. The New Year is around the corner. Don’t give up on that dream of yours no matter what it is. Stick to it. You’ll have plenty of people who will be jealous, and try to pull you down but don’t give up. You will also have plenty of people on your cheering squad, cheering you on. When you run into an obstacle, climb over it. Be encouraged!