As much I hate to say it, you gotta follow your dreams and dream big. Seriously.

The first step to changing your life is as simple as it is ambitious. Dream BIG! Throughout this blogI will remind you that the BIG THING represents the biggest, most eye-popping dream your noggin can muster. And of course, in this book the BIG THING specifically means 26.2 miles.

In general it means diving deep into your imagination to discover what really turns you on. It means unshackling any inhibitions or nay-saying that prevent you from being as creative as you can be – as you want to be – when it comes to seeking, finding and fulfilling your beautiful life.

It means channeling childlike wonder and believing – no, expecting – that anything is possible, including that which is seemingly impossible.

For much of my life I had distrusted those who would proclaim that anything is possible and who would encourage us to dream impossible dreams. I was skeptical of these lovable idiots and their Don Quixote smiles and dimpled cheeks. Perhaps I surmised their world as too simplistic, too infomercial. Perhaps I was merely blinded by the bright sunshine reflecting off their toothy grins.

To me, their claims and motivational speeches were incredible. The most conspicuous“positive thinkers” are those who appear on late night television shows preying on the desperate and hawking their DVDs and books, or those who appear at the local Holiday Inn Express pitching their $500-a-ticket seminars. I am incredulous to their emotional, breathless pleas to follow their examples to chase after your dreams.

So the curmudgeon in me asks, what could be more hollow than their pipe dreams? What could be a bigger waste of time than chasing down hopes that have no realistic chance of coming true? And why get worked up over something that will never happen?