To Dream is Divine
April 4th, 2007 • Posted by Skip Williams • Permalink
“To Dream is Divine, to Achieve is Sublime”
The gift to dream of huge accomplishments comes from God, but the ability to turn those dreams into reality comes from many places all of which are completely human. Where does someone find the strength and the tenaciousness to invent a light bulb, build a bridge, or even open a business?
Perhaps through motivations like greed, pride, and altruism. But I believe, although I can not prove it, that inside each and every one of us is a “higher calling,” a purpose, or a flame of desire that slowly burns inside ourselves, yearning to breathe free, needing to accomplish great things.
Although we are in the “Spa Business” and we teach and preach that we must all have balance in our lives, I submit to you that nothing GREAT ever got accomplished with balance. Great love, great intelligence, great talent, great inventions, great works of art, in fact all great accomplishments come from obsession. Obsession requires, no strike that, obsession demands that other facets of your life be out of balance and so does accomplishment.
Why then does this flame burn inside each of us to be better than we are, to reach new heights, to accomplish something that our friends and family tell us is “crazy?” Should we listen to the flame, or should we suffocate it by keeping harmony and balance in our life?
Many within our industry will disagree, and opt for the perfect harmony and balance, but I for one, believe that our Maker would not haunt us with this Dream, would not plague us with this burning desire, if we were not meant to reach for those Dreams.
Now you may ask, will everyone accomplish those Dreams, of course not, then why should everyone try? To which I answer; “It is in the pursuit of accomplishment, not the accomplishment itself, that real happiness is found!” In other words, when we stretch ourselves, when we reach for that which seems unattainable, we are proud of ourselves, we are happy with ourselves, and we believe we are obsessed with our Dream and navigating toward its achievement. When the goal is reached, then new goals become necessary to continue our happiness, albeit with more confidence.
Robert Frost wrote about “The Road Not Taken:”
Two roads diverged in a wood,
And sorry I could not travel both, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I have been inspired by these words for many years, and as a boy I used to play in the woods and fields on Robert Frost’s Farm, and contemplate if these were the woods he wrote about, and on my way back to my Grandparents house I would ALWAYS take the more difficult route home. I guess not much in my life has changed. As you and I face difficulty every day, the trick, I believe, is to relish that difficulty, and be proud of facing up to it, of meeting it head on.
Now, many years later, I have the privilege of working with other fellow obsessive future Spa Business Owners, and I am in awe of the American Entrepreneurial Spirit that burns within our industry. I am honored to work with Spa Owners and Future Spa Owners that the Dream burns so brightly for, and help them to turn that Dream into a Reality.
I face each day knowing that there is someone out there who is obsessed with the idea of creating a profitable Spa Business where people would come and they would be showered with kindness, pampered with gentle hands, and smiling employees would serve them with a caretaker’s heart. If only they had the means, if only they had could solidify their ideas, if only they could convince an investor, if only they knew that their ideas would work, they would let that flame burn more brightly, they would take that Dream to the next level, they would eventually turn the Dream into a Reality.
So, I wake each day with my own obsession, my obsession is to find those of you who fit that description, my obsession is to help you achieve that Dream, my obsession is keep you from failing or making major mistakes, my obsession is to help you reach for the unattainable and I, in return, become a better man through these efforts, and my Dream is to be better at it than anyone out there. MY DREAM IS DIVINE!
Skip Williams, the author of “The Reluctant Spa Director and the Mission Dream”, is a recognized speaker and author in the spa arena, recently voted "Spa Person of the Year", with over thirteen (13) years of experience in the Management, Financial Development & Operational fields, in the Spa and Hospitality Industry as Spa Director, Controller and Business project Consultant. He brings his previous years of analytical business experience in a broad variety of manufacturing, retail and service businesses to studying Resort Spas, Day Spas, Medical Spas, Wellness Centers, and Salons: their profitability, how they operate, and what makes them successful. Skip is also Vice President of Resources and Development.
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April 4th, 2007 at 9:13 am
Wow! You have no idea what amazing timing this post has for me. Thank you for reminding me why I went down this path and providing much needed and appreciated encouragement to continue.
April 8th, 2007 at 5:10 am
Thank you. Although making money is the point of having a business, the desires you articulated are the deeper "fire" that burns in my heart and many other spa owners.
"I face each day knowing that there is someone out there who is obsessed with the idea of creating a profitable Spa Business where people would come and they would be showered with kindness, pampered with gentle hands, and smiling employees would serve them with a caretaker’s heart."
It is encouraging to have that dream recognised and affirmed. I'm going to keep pushing to see it happen in my place.