| What if you could do work you really loved AND do it in your
own kind of paradise?
Here from the pages of Entrepreneur and Minnesota Monthly
are the stories of two enterprising people who did just that.
People who had the courage to go after a livelihood that spoke
to their spirit -- in a place that fed their souls.
On an Island
Think warm sea breezes, swaying palm trees, white sand and
clear blue waters. That's what Vicki Phelps, a homemaker who
had been working part-time in her husband Chet's computer
software business pictured when she decided to move from Virginia
Beach, VA to the U.S. Virgin Islands to bake cookies.
After numerous vacations to the Caribbean, Vicki noticed
how few gift products were actually made on the islands. Seeing
an opportunity to relocate herself and her family to paradise,
Vicki decided to make good use of the island's own fruits
and spices by launching The Original Caribbean Cookie Company.
The cookies were an immediate hit with tourists -- so much
so that after only seven months, Chet was able to close his
business and join his wife full time.
Vicki's story just goes to show, you can have your cookies
-- and enjoy where you eat them too!
In the Country
When Tom Scheib left the Marines in the early seventies,
he and his wife Elli knew they wanted to live in the country.
They wanted the kind of life, Tom says, "where people
say hello to you when you're walking down the street."
They found it on a pond-dotted piece of land in Finland, Minnesota.
With the "where" part settled, it was time to complete
the "what" part of the equation.
While in the military, Tom was stationed in Europe. There
he got to see reindeer on the northern Norwegian tundra. Today,
Tom is one of only a handful of reindeer ranchers in the United
States.
Working the holiday festival circuit brings in several hundred
dollars a day, but the real money comes from lending his reindeer
to commercials and big-time shoes (rental fee to the Bronx
Zoo -- $10,000). One of his reindeer even appeared in the
remake of the movie Miracle on 34th Street.
Although reindeer ranching is a year-round labor of love,
its seasonal nature is not making Tom rich -- at least not
yet. But for Tom, money isn't the most important thing in
life. What he most loves about his work is living close to
the land. To be able to see a flock of geese rise up in the
sky and to be his own boss, is for Tom, what successful living
is all about.
If you've been dreaming of working and living with passion,
start by asking yourself a few questions:
· What constitutes the ideal living environment for
you?
· If you could live and work anywhere in the world,
where would it be?
· Are you interested in living in one location year-round
or multiple locations based on seasonal or other factors?
What Vicki and Tom do for a living -- and where they do it
-- couldn't be more different. Yet, they share a two-step
approach to successful living. One, they share a belief that
dreams can come true. Two they had the determination -- and
the wisdom -- to act on their beliefs. One day at a time,
you too can create the life you really want.
=============
George
Elliot once said, "It's never too late to be what you
might have been." Which is why former corporate cubicle-dweller
Valerie Young got off the fast track to become the Dreamer-in-Residence
at http://www.changingcourse.com.
Changing course offers inspiration and information to help
you find your life mission and live it. Barbara Sher, best-selling
author of I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was calls
Changing Course "wonderful, inspired and informative."
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