Thursday March 25, 2010 | 4 comments
I was talking to a friend of mine recently who told me a sad story about a couple she knew. They had both just retired and built a dream house on a lake, which they planned to live in and enjoy for many years to come. Sadly, a few months after the house was finished, the wife had a stroke and died, leaving her husband to pursue his dreams alone.
That’s a sad start to any post, but what my friend said to me after telling me this really clicked: “That just shows how important it is to pursue your dreams now, since you never know when things are going to change.” Strangely enough, that was the third conversation in one day during which people told me to pursue my dreams. The first was with another friend who knows I want to start my own tea shop – someday. He said that he had recently been in our local very large natural grocery store (which shall remain unnamed), and was talking to the manager about whether they had ever considered expanding their juice bar to add tea to it. My friend told him, “If you ever do move down that path, I know a great person who knows a lot about tea and could really help you with it” – meaning me! He said he gave the manager his card, and was going to follow up with him next time he was in the store. Then he told me that I’d better get my business plan done, so I would be ready.
The next conversation was at lunch that day, with a new acquaintance. I had asked to meet with her to talk about her experiences in the consulting world, since this is one path I’m considering in my job search. She asked me to tell her about my background, which I did, although I didn’t mention tea. We talked for a bit about project and change management; then she asked me, “What is your dream job? If you could do anything, without thinking about money, what would you do?” And I said, of course, I’d open a tea shop.
Well, that surprised her a bit, but she seemed intrigued as I talked about it more. After a few minutes, we went back to talking about consulting, and she gave me some great advice. Then she went back to the topic of tea, saying “If you can do that, at least part time right now, I would.” She told me that my face lit up when I was talking about tea much more than it had when I was talking about consulting.
Three conversations in one day telling me to pursue my dream – I don’t know how many more signs I can ignore. So my goal for the next month is to find a way that I can start working in the tea business, whether that means a part-time job in a local shop, in-home consulting, or something else. Wish me luck!
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Go for it. It’s takes courage to follow your passion but once you’re on the path – it’s more than worth the effort. You are absolutely right – life is short and we must embrace what brings pleasure into our lives. I feel blessed to have tea in my life which brought me the T Ching community and all the wonderful people who post for us as well as those who take the time to leave comments-reminding us that our efforts are being appreciated by fellow tea lovers around the world.
Thanks for the encouragement, Michelle!
Nancy, I was given the same advice (by a kinesiologist as it happens) – she was like, ‘you need to work with tea, your current job is destroying you (I was in the public service), but your face lights up and your body relaxes when you talk about tea’! And so now I am (in a small way) and it makes me so happy. Go for it!
Nancy, I strongly recommend working part time in a tea shop. Is your interest in selling “dry” tea or a restaurant style tea shop? In either case, you can get a taste of your dream without spending lots of time and money. I know from my years of food service, the reality of running or working in a restaurant can be a messy affair. As you mentioned, you have other ideas of ways to immerse yourself in the tea business if this one is not the best. Go for it!