Don't be Silly, Toto, Scarecrows Don't Talk

Don't be silly, Toto, scarecrows don't talk - The Wizard of Oz

So it’s not one of the most quoted lines from The Wizard of Oz, but even if I didn’t tell you where that was from, I think most would figure it out. It’s the anniversary of L. Frank Baum’s birthday today, so I thought it would be fitting to use this quote to inspire my blog post today.

When Dorothy speaks these words to Toto in the movie that we all know and love, she is about to meet the scarecrow for the first time. In Dorothy’s world, scarecrows didn’t talk; they were simply devices used to keep away the crows in Kansas where she was from. What Dorothy has to do is free herself of the constraints she’s used to dealing with to get along in the land of Oz. Once she gets beyond a talking scarecrow, nothing surprises her: a man made of tin, a talking lion, flying monkeys, and a old man behind a curtain pretending to be a great and powerful wizard.

In our success journeys, we also have to deal with boundaries, real and imagined, in realizing our goals and dreams. Some very real boundaries are time constraints when you already work a forty-hour plus job a week, children’s activities, resource constraints (issues with your internet provider, computer issues). In addition to the real boundaries, there are the boundaries that we put in front of ourselves. We make excuses for ourselves that we can’t make the time to follow our dreams. We make excuses for our selves if our computers conk out, when we might be able to go the public library to use a computer to get the work done we need to realize our dreams and goals.

To be successful and become the person I am today, I've had to think outside the box and beyond what I've ever told about following my dreams. Thankfully, I have very supportive family and friends. And I'm far from perfect; I went five days without a blog post this week. All I can do is pick myself up, remind myself, like Dorothy, that I’m not in Kansas anymore (because I live in Missouri), and move forward with dream and goal of finishing my first novel this year.

I’d love to hear how you've had to remove some barriers in your thinking to move forward with your goals and dreams…have a great day everyone!.