Life is great. Oh, my goodness! Grace and I just got back from a one week trip that took us from Miami to Paris, Madrid, Pamplona, Amsterdam, New York, and back to South Florida. The best part is that we made that decision to go, only about twenty four hours before we left. No; the best part is that we flew first class across the USA and Europe and were treated like royalty…well, almost.

Okay, you be the judge of which is the best part. You see, we departed on Monday, based on a purely sentimental whim. Wednesday was going to be our daughter’s birthday. Danielle is attending La Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, on a “study abroad” program, and we just couldn’t bear the thought of not being there for her special day.

It’s not a joke. Dreams do come true.

There was a time, not long ago, when that kind of adventure could hardly have been entertained in my imagination. My responses would have been…that’s crazy; that’s irresponsible; my boss will never agree; I could get fired; I don’t have money for that kind of thing.  Yet, it happened, it was fabulous, and the sun continues to shine from the heavens. Freedom is a wonderful thing.

As is the case whenever I write to you, my colleague, I use personal experiences, life stories and my own encounters, but if you read closely, the story is never really about me. It’s about you. You see, I’m just a good example of the fact that you can beat the odds. For someone as unlikely as me to live in total freedom is sheer testament to the immense possibilities before you, irrespective of your present conditions.

I’ve been often perceived as a nobody from nowhere; the least likely to succeed; the one not selected when team members were being chosen for the game; the unpopular and unattractive. Yet, through hard experiences and tough encounters, God and circumstances have taught me a few secrets of living the life of fullness.

My objective in every letter is to tickle, tease and tempt you to break out of any regular, ordinary and normal expectations that you and other people may have put on your life; to entice you to explode into a place of plenty, bigness, fullness…a place where you achieve, attain and obtain everything that you want and life offers.

It’s a shame. The secrets of living your dreams aren’t secrets at all. They are everywhere to be seen, but most people refuse to look, so these principles and life-choices stay hidden from many.

Something tells me that the answers you seek in life…the solutions you desire, are all around you. As you go through the normal struggles and pressures that afflict everyone, if you will only be quiet for a moment each day and observe, you will be surprised at the secrets life will reveal—lessons that can lift you to higher places. Let me share one of these secrets. I’m learning it from my daughter.

Danielle is amazing. While attending Ohio University, she had an urge to study Spanish in Spain, French in Quebec or Paris, and Japanese in Tokyo. She had no money and didn’t know the first step in pursuing such grand plans. Yet, she continued to talk about it with confidence as if she knew for sure it was going to happen. I have marveled at this crazy girl. What? Does she think money grows on trees? Doesn’t she know you have to do hard labor in school and on the job BEFORE you get to travel the world…and then, only maybe?

She did the research, learned the process and completed the applications. The money manifested. On the 5th of January, she departed for Spain. Today, I have no doubt that the French and Japanese legs of her journey will similarly manifest. Why? Because she believes it with the faith and assurance of a child, speaks about it with the “matter of fact,” adult certainty of the evening news, then she just goes out and does it. How? The stars align, miracles happen, I don’t know, but she gets the things she believes, speaks and acts upon.

That is a secret formula most adults have not governed. But it can take your life from the mundane to the majestic. So simple, but fueled by deep belief, this approach launches your life upward to places of passion and possibility.

When you say you have a dream, are you just dreaming? Do you actually believe the dream after you awake, or does it fade under the brightness of the morning sun? Do you believe it enough to talk about it, spread the word, hear the sound of it, feel the vibration of it, communicate it to the heavens? Does the sound or passion of it impel you to act upon it—do it, learn it, discover it, become it?

Oh, Danielle didn’t let us sleep in the spare bedroom at her host family’s home. We dragged a bed into her room and slept there every night, right next to her. We walked the streets of Pamplona with her, attended university classes with her, went rock climbing with her (or should I say watched?), went to the gym with her to her Capoeira martial arts class and attended a party with her and her friends. We lived in her space. After just a couple months in Pamplona, she speaks fluent Castilian Spanish and acts like she owns the city. Do dreams come true? Say “Yes.” (Smile.)

When you say you have a dream, is it some vague probability or happenstance, or is it crystal clear in your mind? Stop today. Write it down in words of the present tense, already fulfilled. Then, systematically begin to pursue it with the formula of “believe, speak, do and have,” in that order. Get ready. Your life could catapult forward and upward. Are you ready to fly?

Take it from me: this attitude will give you altitude.

Alvin

PS: Thanks to our friend and business partner, Miss Nsombi Jaja, for encouraging us on this whim. When we questioned our sanity at the idea, she shoved her laptop to Grace and said, “Here. Find a flight online and just go!” Amazing woman; but then again, she lives in a large space of plenty.