Don's Rules #2

DON'S RULE #2:

DREAM, HAVE AMBITION, SEEK TO ACOMPLISH THINGS, GO THE EXTRA MILE AND COMMITT TO THE TASK AT HAND.

This goal may look like a run on sentence at first, but upon closer inspection, I believe it to be an effort to portray its own message.  Why stop at dream and have ambition?  Go ahead and throw a few more ideas in that goal and get to work.

I have a little bit of difficulty accepting the first part of this Rule with the last--dream vs the task at hand.  I think that I am a person who will keep growing forever, and I am having some growing pains now.  While I see all of the tasks around me as manageable, I want more.  I want to accomplish things that I am currently not tasked to do.  I have to pay most attention to the first part of this rule: Dream.

When I was growing up, my dreams were to be independent, leave home, find success and happiness.  Over the past five or so years, I think I have taken a strong hold on those hopes and wrangled them.  Still, my heart yearns to know/do/be more.  When I was in high school I was in Speech and Debate and ranked among some of the best competitors in Texas and even nationally at times.  I feel as though a big part of me was left on the stage of high school graduation though.  The public speaker JaNelle does not come out that often anymore--certainly not often enough.

Luckily, the end of this school year was an opportunity to dust off the old oratory skills and put them to use.  I had two students that had been working for me in the electrics department of our Performing Arts center and as graduating seniors, we congratulated them by presenting departmental honors for their work.  Compared to the speeches my peers gave, I blew our audience of 200+ people away.  After the ceremony many parents, teachers and even the head of school stopped me to say that they were very impressed with my skills at oratory.  It felt like ten years ago when I would stand on stage with other finalists for oratory or extemporaneous speech and wait as they announced fourth place, then third, then second...8 of us onstage: we knew that 4 were about to walk away with heads hung low...then, trying to maintain composure and humility, they would announce 'JaNelle Weatherford'  I had another gaudy trophy to gather dust in my mom's attic.

I promise to Dream, Uncle Donnie.  I know you always did.  I will dream about the ways to make my life more exciting and enjoyable, how to make my relationships their strongest and most sacred, and how to flame the fire in my voice and delivery.  I know that in this complicated economy, I must stay committed to the task at hand.  And in order to be competitive in any market, I must go the extra mile.  No one is noticed for doing only what is required.

In fact, I am now much more willing to accept this goal in its entirety.  Maybe he knew that I would want to shake up my career at a time when we might ought to all be clutching onto our current roles for dear life?

Always, ambitiously yours,

JaNelle