What A Greek Wedding Can Teach You About Reaching Your Dreams

Anyone that has read my column knows well that I am a
collector of success stories. I believe they are extremely
important to us. Not to look in awe at others, but instead
to gain strength from them and in turn apply their lessons
to the challenges we face as we set out towards our own
dreams.

Recently I was flipping through the channels and as soon as
I hit the Oprah Winfrey Show something literally grabbed
that channel changer and stopped me... I am so glad that it
did, because I believe I ended up hearing one of the most
inspiring stories I've heard in a while.

The story behind the story of My Big Fat Greek Wedding...

On the surface the Nia Vardalos' story might easily be
fluffed off as just another lucky person who made it big in
a hit movie. I'm telling you right now however that nothing
could be farther from the truth.

While it is true that Nia reached super star status almost
over night in a movie that grossed 120 million dollars and
was reported to cost only 5 million dollars to make, the odd
twist is the story behind the film's production and
phenomenal success.

If this was anything resembling luck, it was home made
luck...Nia explained that the story she'd written originally
was born out of the necessity to work. She was an actress
looking for work and after hearing the various reasons why
she didn't fit into the stereotypical roles that were out
there, Nia decided to write her own role.

Hence was born the little one woman play that actress Rita
Wilson took her family to see after seeing a small clip
advertising it in the newspaper. Perhaps even more
incredible is that the ad that led them to the show was a
one time running, because that was all that Nia could afford
at the time.

Rita was so impressed with the show, that she encouraged her
husband, Tom Hanks, to take it from the theater to the big
screen. You see, we're not talking just luck here. There are
countless examples of people, just like you and I that took
that leap of faith and along the way something far greater
then us came up behind us and filled in the missing pieces.

Set out each day believing in your dreams. Know without a
doubt that you were made for amazing things. Understand that
it is ok to be scared or uncertain, however right beyond
those barriers ultimately lies your dreams... Yours in
success, Josh Hinds

(c) 2002