Oh what a month June has been!

I am not going to rant about the ”geez I feel like I live in my office” today. But it is a fact that the days off are rare as of lately, and the weekend was particularly tough, with terrible thunder storms that caused all kinds of problems, and thank God the people I was working with were in a good mood, because we had a LOT on our plate. Or so to speak…

No… No ranting today. What I feel like talking about is something I have already adressed in the past.

Our dreams, and the dang What ifs.

A lot of motivators and what I call Carebears wearing pink glasses will try to make you believe that you can make all your dreams come true. That it is just a matter of how hard you work to make these dreams come true.

I feel like this is quite a burden to put on anyone’s shoulders. If it were true, it would mean that any dream you don’t achieve in your life is a failure. Something you just didn’t work hard enough to grant to yourself.

I’d rather think that people should be keeping an eye open for any opportunity coming their way, and grab them when they do. You give it your best shot, and see what happens. If it works, great! You can check the experience off your list. If it doesn’t, you just wait for the next door to open.

But let’s be honest, we all tend to let these opportunities fly us by. Because we are busy, or tired, or just aren’t confident enough to try.

And the What ifs start haunting us.

I hate What ifs. But you know that already, don’t you?

This week I was told about this Ikea Denmark contest that was closing today. It was a busy-busy-oh-so-dang-busy week, and I couldn’t think of a right moment to make the video needed for my application. Had I known weeks before, I could have asked for help, and put up something cool, fancy, clever… Hmmm I could have put something up.

As I was watching the time fly by, I started thinking that I would never be able to make something even worth watching, before they would close the entries to the contest. It was a dead end. I just couldn’t do it. I’d just not participate, and tell anyone asking that I had and just lost. Who could find out I had choked up, right?

And came the What ifs. The contest was still on, and they were there, like a little voice, in the back of my head.

What if, they were cool enough to overlook a poorly made video, and gave your letter and the visit to The Cove more credit… And actually picked you??

What if, you were offered these two weeks, all costs taken care of, to go mingle with Danes, and walk the streets of Copenhagen, sharing your love for Denmark with the world??

What if, what if, what if????

It was killing me. So, yesterday night, I waited for the phone to stop ringing for a couple of minutes, I hang my Dannebrog in a corner of the office where I work. I set my tablet, framed myself the best I could, and recorded myself giving a little straight-from-the-heart introduction. Nothing complicated. No visual effects, or montage. Just me, saying how much I wanted this.

I did a few takes, made sure to look straight at the camera, and be as natural as possible.

Then, this morning, I wrote my letter (the easy part… talking about how much I want to go to Denmark? That’s not even a task, that’s a pleasure LOL) and I completed my application.

I still had doubts. I could hear the ”What?? We’re in 2019, and you can’t come up with anything better than that??” But I did it.

I hit the ”send” button and watched the little sign going round and round, loading my application. And round and round it went… For what seemed to be an hour. And I finally got the ”Thank you for your participation” message.

Pfewwww!

I am no fool. I know that no matter how much I want this to work, I have little chance that it will. Close to none, actually.

But I am still happy.

Because, even if I don’t get picked (Ohhh please pick me Ikea people!!) I have tried my best. Yes, I could have done better, given more time and technology wits, but I did the best I could with what I had.

I tried.

Now the What ifs are gone. And this came through my email inbox:

 

Happiness just got a bit closer, indeed!