Each time before the space shuttle is sent into orbit all systems have to be checked and re-checked for any evidence of malfunction. At Mission Control all boards across the control deck must show green. To accomplish this task involves the work of many people of different skills…each one an expert in their own field. Months of preparation go into the schedule of each launch. Each failure is corrected until all has been done for a hopeful success. In our own lives each hope and dream rests on us for flight, to accomplish our launch and mission. We too must plan, contribute and re-check for our space-shuttle to glide among the stars.

To lift off the ground much thrust and power is needed to fuel our rockets. Whatever it is we plan to do for the future, without forward momentum our ship of dreams would come crashing back to the ground. We are our own “mission control.” We pick our team of experts to contribute to the success of our projects. It is up to us to determine who is needed and best qualified to help us succeed at our goals. In many cases we cannot do it alone…it involves teamwork and sometimes expertise from others, but never believe it can’t be done. Man walking on the moon was once considered insanity.

Each week I receive numerous letters from people sharing with me their hopes and dreams for the future. Some are well on their way to accomplishing their missions, others struggle to find their team of experts for their launch. The one thing that both have in common is the belief that they can succeed if just given the chance. Power is a very strange thing….in many cases we think it lies in somebody else’s hands…meeting the right person, having somebody provide the right amount of money…while many times the power to succeed rests within us. And one thing for certain, never underestimate the power of prayer. Prayer can move mountains and fuel many a ship.

Who are the right people for a mission? That’s for us to decide. The boys in the movie “October Sky” started with a little rocket that they built…that failed and failed and failed until one day, from pondering their mistakes, they discovered the right combination to lift their rocket high into the atmosphere. The sky above us awaits our dreams…our missions……Man may not have wings, but that doesn’t mean he can’t fly.

Spread your wings,

Jennifer Avalon
© 1999 Jennifer Avalon