Support helped niece find success

I first met Sara when she was a precocious raven-haired beauty who had only been on this earth for two short years. Her sister, Jane, was still a babe in arms and her other sister, Margaret, had not even been thought of yet.
From the time she could walk and talk, she was putting on little plays starring her sisters and anybody else who happened to be around. She graduated from Xavier University in Ohio and moved to California to seek her big break.
While waiting for this to happen, she gave motivational speeches, went to lots of auditions, made an infomercial and acted in other assorted venues. She dropped names shamelessly whenever she returned home. She picked up a pronounced valley girl accent. She made movies that I’ve never heard of and started her own film company, Life Out Loud. Her motto is DARE to live Life Out Loud: Dream, Act, Risk, Embrace!
The Ohio native eventually became disillusioned with the California life and moved in with her parents who had retired to Smith Mountain Lake near Roanoke, Virginia. She conceived the outline of a movie plot, hired a writer and assorted actors, arranged financing and generally did everything involved in making a movie.
Her resulting creation, Lake Effects, aired on the Hallmark Movie Channel several times last month. We’ve been bragging about her ever since.
In addition to bragging about my niece, I have another reason for writing about her. You have heard the expression, “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” Well, Sara would not make lemonade. She would use the fruit to plant a lemon grove, hire help to care for the plants and sell the lemons so someone else could make lemonade. Plus, she would look fantastic doing it.
It helps that she comes from a family of over-achievers. Her mother is an artist who sells her work locally and nationally; her father belongs to every service organization ever invented; her middle sister, Jane, is an art teacher, volunteer firefighter and marathon runner; her bubbly little sister, Margaret, is a successful event planner and has the best legs I’ve ever seen on anybody. Plus they are all the nicest people I have met in my life.
Therefore, it is no surprise that Sara and her sisters are successful. I firmly believe that their successes are due to growing up in a creative, supportive and loving family. Without that support I doubt if any of them would have had the confidence to make their dreams come true.
Not one of us succeeds or fails solely on our own. The people who raised us have a great deal of influence over our lives. They are the ones who determine if we have the courage to follow our dreams or if we are too afraid to try.
Our families, teachers and friends are our mentors, whether they intend to be or not. Sometimes it only takes one person to give someone the courage to achieve their dreams. Sometimes it only takes one person to make someone so terrified of failure that they don’t bother to attempt what they have been told repeatedly is beyond them.
What kind of child will you raise? Will you raise a child who always picks the safe, boring path in life? Will you raise a child who will be forever plagued by the sadness of unfulfilled dreams? Or will you raise a child who will dare to dream and do whatever has to be done to make those dreams come true? Will you have your own Sara to brag about? It is up to you.

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