I've been an Avett Brothers fan for at least a decade. When I first heard "Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise" I was struck by these lyrics:

"When nothing is owed or deserved or expected
And your life doesn't change by the man that's elected
If you're loved by someone, you're never rejected
Decide what to be and go be it"

Decide what to be and go be it? How many of us actually do that? I sure didn't. You see, I'm a recovering rule follower. I got decent grades in school. I went to work and tried my best every day so I'd get promoted and one day be happy with my life. By most measuring sticks, I've had a healthy amount of success. However, happiness and contentment were missing. Why is that the case?

Because I put my dreams in the hands of others.

I never knew what it meant to have my own dreams. I remained stuck and let past failures linger in my brain on a never-ending repeat loop.

I thought that achieving a level of money/power/position was the ticket to happiness. There's nothing wrong with those things in and of themselves. However, when you attach your personal identity to them, you can lose yourself in the process. I'm a slow learner. Over the past few years, I've become intentional about practicing habits that make me better. I'm learning to detach my personal identity from the outcomes of my work. It's been a long road, but I'm finally learning to own my dreams.

Thanks to those of you who have read this far. I hope this resonates with some of you. The world needs the REAL you - not the person you think others want you to be. You were meant for much more than you're allowing yourself to be. Here's to dreaming big!

This post is dedicated to my beautiful mother, Karen Taha, who passed away in 2017. She was a children's book author and dearly loved by her family and friends. She taught me to love reading, how to write (she would not be an AI fan!), and most importantly, how to love people well. I miss her every day.

See you next Sunday.

Thank you for reading. Who do you know that would benefit from this newsletter? The best compliment I could receive is that you would share it with someone you care about.