Adding Fuel to the Fire

          In my continuing story of lawn mower maintenance, I would like to talk about fuel. Fuel is what’s burned in an engine and forces the moving parts to actually move. I think of fuel as the education it takes to get moving toward whatever dream you may have.

            With the Internet, we have unlimited opportunity to learn about everything under the sun within minutes of having a question. Not only is this very useful in keeping track of football scores, but it can also be used to help us realize our goals. We can learn all about other people who had similar dreams and find out what mistakes they made. All my scars testify to the wisdom of learning from other peoples' mistakes. We can also learn about two different things that would go great together. (chocolate and peanut butter come to mind)

            If my dream is to start a worm farm, I can find other people who like worms and raise them. I can also learn about the different types of worms, what they eat, what environment I need to keep them in, and whether I need to wear gloves for my own protection. Actually, I did look into worm farming and have tried to raise them in the past. “In the past” is short for – "worms die at my hands." The point is, I was able to learn about something and try it out. It didn’t work for me, but it has for other people.

            Some people love to learn while others are less than enthusiastic about it. Even reluctant learners are passionate about something, though, and are willing to learn all they can about that particular topic. If you want to try something new, you need to be passionate about it enough to learn all you can on the subject. Even people who can’t read can watch a YouTube video, even about worm farming. (I did.)

            The best thing about using fuel as a metaphor for learning is that sometimes the gas tank is empty and the lawn mower won’t run. Everything else may be good, but without gas, you won’t cut a single blade of grass. You need to fill ‘er up every once-in-a-while to keep the mower going. Professionals are always going to trainings to learn new skills and see what new developments there are in their field. Whatever your dream is, you’ll need to keep learning as well. Vermicomposting.com is a great place to start if you’re still interested in worms.

            Jim Rohn, a motivational speaker, said, “Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins.” I can’t say it better than that.

            Whatever your dream is, keep studying and learning about it. How to start, what are the upsides and downsides of it, does it already exist, and what can I do to make it better. Remember, even if your dream seems stupid and disgusting to others, it’s your dream, not theirs. So, add some fuel to your spark and see what happens!