WHEN WE AWAY FROM CONFORT ZONE

                                                      OUR NEW LIFE

           I'M REALLY NO DIFFERENT FROM YOU. I HAVE MY FEARS, AS YOU DO, AND WHEN I LOOK BACK AT THE FIRST 30 YEARS OF MY LIFE, YOU KNOW WHAT I SEE? I SEE SOMEONE WHO ACHIEVED SOME DEGREE OF SUCCESS AS AN ATTORNEY. BUT I ALSO SEE SOMEONE WHO WAS SHY, INSECURE, SCARED AND SELF- CONSCIOUS. DOES THAT SOUND TO YOU LIKE SOMEONE WHO'S A MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER?

             WHAT I TURNED MY LIFE AROUND... AND IMPROVED IT A MILLION-FOLD ... IS THAT I LEARNED TO CONFRONT MY FEARS AND TAKE ACTION. I REALIZED AFTER YEARS OF FRUSTRATION AND DISAPPOINTMENTS THAT HIDING FROM MY FEARS WASN'T GETTING ME ANYWHERE - AND IT WOULD NEVER GET ME ANYWHERE.

 OF COURSE, I WOULDN'T HAVE CONFRONTED MY FEARS IF I HADN'T FIRST DEVELOPED A POSITIVE ATTITUDE. A "CAN- DO " ATTITUDE PROVIDED ME WITH THE EXTRA PUSH I NEEDED TO TAKE ACTION. WHEN YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN DO SOMETHING, YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO MOVE FORWARD DESPITE BEING AFRAID.

            ARMED WITH A GREAT ATTITUDE, I DECIDED  TO BECOME A PARTICIPANT IN LIFE AND TO EXPLORE MY POTENTIAL, EVEN THOUGH I WAS SCARED. FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. I FELT SO MUCH BETTER ABOUT MYSELF. I HAD TAKEN CONTROL OF MY LIFE, AND ALL SORTS OF POSSIBILITIES OPENED UP FOR ME.

            

         ARE YOU BEGINNING TO SEE THE INCREDIBLE REWARDS YOU CAN RECIEVE WHEN YOU'RE WILLING TO DEVELOP A POSITIVE ATTITUDE AND CONFRONT YOUR FEARS.?

                 I'D LIKE TO TELL YOU A STORY ABOUT WOMAN WHO KNOWS A LOT ABOUT BREAKING OUT OF A COMFORT ZONE. HER NAME IS DOTTIE BURMAN, AND FOR 32 YEARS DOTTIE WAS A HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER IN NEW YORK. YET, SINCE THE AGE OF 10, SHE WANTED TO GO INT SHOW BUSINESS. SHE NEVER GAVE IT SERIOUS THOUGHT AS A CAREER AND INSTEAD CHOSE THE SECURITY OF TEACHING, WITH ITS REGULAR PAYCHECK AND BENEFITS.

               WHILE WORKING AS A TEACHER, DOTTIE BEGAN TO WRITE SONGS AND PERFORM THEM. IT WAS JUST A HOBBY, BUT IT KEPT HER DREAM ALIVE. THEN, IN THE LATE 1980S, DOTTIE MADE A DECISION. SHE WOULD RETIRE FROM TEACHING AND PURSUE A NEW CAREER AS A PERFORMER. IN THE SUMMER OF 1988, SHE SUBMITTED HER RESIGNATION. THEN THE TERROR REALLY HIT HER. SHE WAS SO SCARED ABOUT VENTURING INTO THE UNKNOWN THAT SHE WITHDREW HER RESIGNATION AND WENT BACK TO TEACHING.

BUT SOMETHING INSIDE DOTTIE WOULDN'T LET HER DREAM DIE. SIX MONTHS LATER, IN JANUARY OF 1989, SHE CONFRONTED HER FEAR AND RETIRED. AT THE TIME, DOTTIE WAS IN HER 50S!. IN 1992, DOTTIE DEVELOPED AND PERFORMED HER OWN ONE - WOMAN MUSICAL SHOW. THE SHOW WAS BASED ON HER FEARS OF LEAVING A SECURE TEACHING JOB TO GO INTO SHOW BUSINESS!

AND IN THE SPRING OF 1998, DOTTIE, WHILE IN HER 60S, RELEASED HER MARVELOUS CD, I'M IN LOVE WITH COMPUTER, A COLLECTION OF WITTY, INSPIRATIONAL SONGS. SHE ALSO PERFORMED THESE SONGS IN A MUSICAL REVUE IN A CABARET IN NEW YORK CITY AS WELL AS FOR ORGANIZATIONS THRROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.

BRAVO, DOTTIE, FOR CONFRONTING YOUR FEARS.... AND INSPIRING US TO FOLLOW OUR DREAMS!.