Inspiration Archives: Kathy Slattengren

Take Time to Follow Your Dreams

What do you dream of doing? Thinking about your dreams and discussing them with others are key components to eventually making them a reality.

A lot of people aren't really sure of their passion or their dream. It can take years to puzzle together your passion and how you plan to follow it. It took me 30 years to develop and follow my passion! Hopefully my story will help you be patient and never give up on your dream.

A seed for my passion was planted when I was a teenager and took care of children whose parents were attending Parent Anonymous meetings. I witnessed how important it is for parents to learn effective, non-physical techniques for dealing with their children's misbehavior. The children I watched had a lot of behavioral issues due to the fact they had been abused by their parents.

One little boy, Joel, especially etched his name on my heart. One day when I wasn't watching, he painted all over a mirror. I was definitely upset when I saw the mess. Later he wrote on the chalk board, "Kathy, do you still love me?" I reassured him that of course I still loved him my love for him would always be there even if he misbehaved.

This started my dream. I wanted to find a way to help families like these so that the children could experience unconditional love in a home that was safe and happy.

How could I help these families? I really didn't know but over the next 30 years I figured it out. After having children of my own, I discovered firsthand how difficult parenting can be. My husband and I learned many wonderful parenting techniques from classes, seminars and books.

I started teaching parenting classes to keep my skills fresh and to share the best techniques I had found with other parents. I knew I was on the right track when parents told me how much happier and calmer their homes were after using the new techniques. When I couldn't keep up with the requests for more courses, I decided I wanted to make the course available over the internet so more parents could learn these techniques.

However, I was the primary wage earner for my family and really couldn't afford to quit my job to pursue a dream that may never make money. This did not stop me from talking about my ideas to anyone who would listen! They all encouraged me to do it. I wanted to do it but felt I should wait for sometime in the future when my family was not as dependent on my salary.

My main excuse for not pursing my dream was taken away when my office was closed and I was laid off from the software development job I held for the past 20 years. If I was ever going to follow my dream, this was the time to do it. I took all the parenting knowledge I had gained over the years and created an online course called Priceless Parenting. I'm now busy testing out the theory that if you follow your passion the money will follow!

Be patient and never stop dreaming. Some day you may also be fortunate enough to be able to follow your passion.