Know thy self, this phrase has been on my mind for many years. I know most people are not like me, but I could be wrong, when I suggest that I know who I am, I feel I have an intelligent understanding of my place in the world, and I have experienced self awareness that perhaps few people share. It’s somewhat of a philosophical exercise, and I’ll add that it really helps to also have a fine-tuned sense of faith and knowledge of Biblical principles. As I tried to lull myself to sleep one night recently, I pondered again who I, Barry Vaudrin, am in the Universe of time and space. Of course I went through the usual thoughts that I am unique and no one else yesterday, today or tomorrow will ever be exactly me. Then to examine how ridiculously eternal time is and has been, puts my 47-year wisp on the timeline of history in perspective. All that I am, all that I have ever experienced, all that I have done is barely a dent in the history of the World, and to think there are billions of people out there past and present, who ask or have asked the question, who am I, where did I come from, why am I here, etc. It’s hard for my little pea brain to comprehend one Billion, much less the billions of people who inhabit the Earth today and even those who are no longer alive but had once been here one hundred years ago, a thousand years ago and beyond. From a Christian viewpoint, it boggles the mind that each individual who ever was and who is today, as well as those who are yet to be conceived are passionately, personally, and intimately crafted and loved by God.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
God's Seedling about to Blossom
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Cruising Authority
Ladies and gentleman, It's been a while since I have posted here on this particular site, mostly because I couldn't remember how to get to it. I tried different passwords, etc, and just couldn't connect, but finally after tinkering with it again, I found a way to connect.
Just a note, I started a new blog for Cruising Authority, but I wanted to make some notes here too. This past year, 2009 has certainly been an adventure worth mentioning here on this blog.
I experienced the brand new Celebrity Solstice when she first arrived into Ft Lauderdale. I took my family to Alaska with Regent Seven Seas Cruises aboard the Seven Seas Mariner. Then in August, I took my wife to China to experience the journey and adventure of a lifetime with Viking River Cruises. Wow, a lot going on this year.
All of these travels can be attributed to my involvement with the most listened to cruise-related talkshow called Cruising Authority at www.cruisetalkshow.com
Just a note, I started a new blog for Cruising Authority, but I wanted to make some notes here too. This past year, 2009 has certainly been an adventure worth mentioning here on this blog.
I experienced the brand new Celebrity Solstice when she first arrived into Ft Lauderdale. I took my family to Alaska with Regent Seven Seas Cruises aboard the Seven Seas Mariner. Then in August, I took my wife to China to experience the journey and adventure of a lifetime with Viking River Cruises. Wow, a lot going on this year.
All of these travels can be attributed to my involvement with the most listened to cruise-related talkshow called Cruising Authority at www.cruisetalkshow.com
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
What is this world coming to and what are YOU going to do about it?
I came up with this title around 1994, well before I met my wife Terri. The title came to me as I was walking the lakes that summer, here in Minneapolis. This was a time in my life when I had the great aspirations to write a book, and I was considering a title. What could I, Barry Vaudrin, possibly have to say in a book? I could write about some of my adventures, or my experiences working on cruise ships. Perhaps I could elaborate on my spiritual journey over the years, or my travels around the world. I had a heart-wrenching couple of years in college, where I loved, but that love was not reciprocated, and these experiences caused me to really search my soul for meaning and relevance. Since I was a child, I dreamed big dreams, reached for my dreams, and at an early age I saw a number of my wildest dreams become reality, and I have often thought that was a rare characteristic within me. Rather than just dream the big dreams, I set out to accomplish and experience, and press ahead towards my dreams and won. I began to see that it was indeed a rare characteristic within me to be so tenacious, to not give up, and to one way or another see my dream, have a vision for my dream, and make it happen. I noticed my friends around me often dreaming big dreams, but that’s where it ended, many are content with just doing the dreaming part but not the “doing” part. I was a “doer” and a go-getter. If there was something I wanted, I would creatively think of some way to get it or do it. With so many topics I could choose for a book, I stumbled upon a common theme, why don’t others see the world and the possibilities in the same light I did?
Have you ever seen something ridiculous, or cruel, or foolish, happen before your eyes and wonder…”what is this world coming to”? Worse yet, do you have a friend, relative or acquaintance that has done something utterly out of character, or just plain stupid…the kind of stupidity that reverberates through their life with significant consequences? It’s almost like some people have chosen a self-destruct sequence of events, you see it but they don’t. What do you do about it? Do you step-in somehow and try to intervene? In the same light, you see the masses (the people all around you in your city, state or even country) move in a certain direction or trend, and as if to elevate yourself above the masses, you see the trend is going the wrong way…what do you do? When you think of yourself as just another speck of humanity swarming with the masses, there’s not much you can do, however, if you elevate your thinking, transcend normal thought, be creative, and consider a better way…that’s when the magic happens. If you can think it, visualize it, and it’s semi-reasonable, that’s when you need to take a chance, swim upstream against the masses to the goal, the prize, the place where your dreams do come true. I’m not talking about fantasy, or magic, or even about that silly concept out there called “The Secret” which is sweeping the country. I’m talking about something that is personal deep within YOU, perhaps an aspiration you’ve had, something you are particularly interested in, but you sweep it aside because it appears to be unobtainable to you. To make your dreams come true it has to start with YOU, and that’s a quote from Barry Vaudrin…not bad aye?
This world we live in and the people around us are not always going to move with us, in our direction, or the direction we want to go, so we have to learn the skills to maneuver our way sometimes against the grain, which is not easy. Obstacles, diversions, walls, barriers, these are naturally going to slow us down, but where some will quit, others will continue, press ahead towards the goal, and make their plan a reality. You often have to think on your feet, but the key is to have a plan, and if that doesn’t work, have another plan, and if that doesn’t work, have yet another plan. Eventually, you’ll turn a corner and see the prize, that’s when you go get it, make it happen and embrace the prize.
The toughest obstacle for me is failure. After failing and failing over and over again, it can take it’s toll on the self-esteem and can be the element that defeats most people. I’m not terribly pleased to have experienced so much failure in my life, and I often wonder what’s the point and it has caused me to pause and re-evaluate my strategy or even if I should continue. I continue only because I can so strongly visualize success. I’ll have to admit that I have failed more than usual in recent years, only to realize that my dream is bigger than it’s ever been, so it’s tougher to climb to the top and capture the winning flag. People around me, friends, even family question my judgement, and I’m not going to ignore their warning, however, I can see the prize, so one way or another I’m going to continue on until the prize is in my hands. What is my latest dream that motivates me? I’ll get to that later.
An example of a dream come true for me might set the scene and allow me to elaborate on how I reached the prize. Since about 1979, I wanted more than anything to cross the Atlantic on the last great trans-Atlantic liner the QE2. Back then the Queen Elizabeth 2 WAS considered the last Atlantic liner, until the Monsterous Queen Mary 2 was built in 2004. My dream back then was to cross the Atlantic aboard the QE2, however my dream on steroids was to live and work aboard the ship in some capacity. I wanted so desperately to experience a trans-Atlantic crossing, because I had read so much about the old days when ships like the Mauretania, Normandie, Queen Mary, SS United States were the only way to cross from one continent to the other. There was a mystique and a romance about that lifestyle that was so compelling to me. Fast-forward to 1988 while I was in college. I planned a grand tour of Europe during the summer break where I would visit Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Norway and possibly return to the States aboard the QE2. The only way that would be possible on my college budget was to go stand-by as a travel agent. Throughout the month or so that I traveled around Europe, there was no way for me to know if I would be able to return home aboard QE2. I had to make an overseas call to the Cunard Line office in New York, a week prior to the ship’s departure, to find out if I would be granted passage. If you could have been there at that very moment I heard from the office in New York that I would be allowed to come home on the QE2, you would have seen an extremely happy college man about to burst with joy. I was so thrilled at that moment, and I only wish I could bottle that feeling and share it. I had visited the QE2 a number of times in the past, but to walk across that gangway, be issued a stateroom, and know that I didn’t have to leave the ship this time…that was a moment in my life that I will always treasure. Do you recall in the mega-hit movie TITANIC when Jack was at the bow of the ship with his buddy shouting “I’m the King of the World!”…well, that was me aboard the QE2 as we started out across the Atlantic and the ship picked-up speed. I was overlooking the bow from a very windy deck just below the ship’s navigational bridge and the thrill of that moment still inspires me today. My first crossing on an Atlantic liner was everything I imagined and hoped it would be, and my expectations were fulfilled.
Four years later, I walked across the gangway to QE2 in Southampton, dragging my steamer trunk aboard as a member of the crew. This was it. The moment I had dreamed of since I was a kid, was becoming a reality as I sign-on to QE2 as Stage Manager. In 1989 I signed-on with Royal Caribbean, then in 1991 I worked as Assistant Cruise Director aboard the Empress with Starlite Cruises. Then in 1992, I was hired as Entertainment Host with Celebrity Cruises and it was during my contract with Celebrity that I was hired to work aboard QE2. It was not easy to get the jobs working on the ships, however, after having completed my first contract with Royal Caribbean it was easier to be hired since I now had cruise ship experience. Since my first contract with Royal Caribbean in 1989, I had my eyes set on landing a position aboard QE2, and I continually pursued Cunard Line. I would send postcards from other Cunard Line ships to the hiring manager for the Entertainment department at Cunard. I sent updated resumes after each ship contract I completed. I even sent a box with one of my white cruise shoes, and wrote on the shoe, “Hopefully this is my foot in the door at Cunard”. I was persistent. I made every effort to arrange an opportunity to meet the hiring director with Cunard Line at the Los Angeles airport while he had a layover, so I could get a face-to-face interview. Every little effort I made to get the job aboard QE2 brought me one step closer and I slowly built-up a solid case over a period of three years for the hiring director to offer me a position. By the time I was hired by Cunard Line I was a seasoned cruise ship entertainment staffer. I lived out my dream! Every day while I was working aboard QE2, I had to pinch myself, to be sure I wasn’t dreaming.
I wanted to describe this experience in-full to the best of my ability, because it’s important to contrast this dream I had that was personal to me, with something I learned about creating a dream. I’ve had several dreams come true like this one, however, I have discovered a new way of thinking and strategizing for my next dream, my next big accomplishment. The dreams I had prior were focused on me, and what I personally wanted to accomplish. There’s nothing wrong with looking inward and reaching for your own personal passion, but there comes a time when the bigger dream, a more mature dream, is found by looking outward. It is somewhat selfish to dream big dreams that are focused inward, but the bigger dreams that include and affect more people than just the dreamer, is where the life-altering Super Dreams lay. These are the dreams where legends are born. These are the dreams that can change the world. These are the dreams that can snowball into affecting millions of people. These are the dreams where your selfish desires and passion is fulfilled, but with a twist, a perk, the added benefit and satisfaction knowing others can also enjoy and experience the dream too. An important thing to remember, and I’m still discovering this, is that these super dreams are tougher to accomplish. There are more roadblocks, more obstacles, more diversions, and more unknown variables attached to these bigger dreams, because you’re now dealing with the freewill of humanity, which can be very difficult to predict. You have to be flexible and willing to adjust your dream and your plan along the way.
This is information that truly is the secret to changing the world, making the world a better place. It’s a concept difficult to grasp and I‘m not sure my feeble attempts to describe it are clear. I do have an example, however, for you to gain a better vision for this concept.
For you, it would most certainly be different, but my dreams, even my super dream revolves around my interest in cruise ships. It all started with my passion for the cruise industry as a base, then I wanted to somehow combine my faith with my interest in cruise ships. I thought long and hard, and even brainstormed with a buddy of mine, Owen, and finally came up with the idea to offer a Cruise with a Purpose. My friend Owen was an evangelist, and so we initially developed the idea of offering a cruise adventure that included an evangelistic twist. We would teach our cruise passengers how to share their faith by producing a play that could be acted-out in the ports we visited. That concept changed and evolved over time to become the Cruise With A Purpose, where our passengers can, if they choose, engage in humanitarian outreach projects in the ports. They can help to feed people, offer gift packets, provide a concert, or just hold out a helping, loving hand to people in the ports who have tremendous needs. Our first Cruise With a Purpose was in 1997 to the Mexican Riviera. Our passengers embraced the concept and some returned home with a life-changing experience. Then in 1999 we produced a very successful Cruise With A Purpose called MC99, or Missions Cruise 99. This event was an amazing example of the super dream in motion. We had 225 passengers on a Caribbean cruise with stops in Roatan, Belize, Cozumel and Key West. We saw lives changed during this event, we provided a meal for about 1,500 people, helped an orphanage with desperately needed supplies, a fledgling Christian radio station received a new transmitter and there were a few on that trip that decided to go into full-time cross-cultural missions work because of what they experienced. The effects of this event touched the lives of countless people in Roatan, Belize and on the ship itself. This was a dream that had an impact on people other than little old me, the effects of which are still in-motion today. I fulfilled my selfish passion within to lead a large group on a cruise, but my dream was also instrumental in affecting hundreds, perhaps thousands of people. This is an example of taking your dream to the next level so that others benefit from your vision.
I have now shared with you two dreams that came true for me, one was focused inward, and one was focused outward. The first dream I shared of working aboard the QE2 really only affected one person….me. Again there’s nothing wrong with that, however, can you see the contrast between the two dreams? This brings to mind the title of this article, “What is this world coming to and what are You going to do about it?” I saw a need in the ports that the ships visit. Many people in these cruise ports are not able to take advantage of the millions of dollars poured into tourism, and so many people fall through the cracks. There are needs among the people in these ports, and there is a need for some to reach out to these people who struggle daily to get by. I tapped into a way to fulfill some of these needs on both ends of the spectrum. People in this world are struggling, and I found a way to do something about it. This story, however, is not about me or what I did, the point I’m trying to get across is there are so many needs, so many voids to fill, so many ways to make life easier for others, what are YOU going to do about it? The solution doesn’t have to be faith-based like my dream. Maybe you have an idea for a better widget. Perhaps you have an idea that would make life easier for the masses, if they only knew about it. What’s YOUR story and what are YOU interested in? What can you come up with that could make a positive impact on the masses? Maybe you need to start somewhere and reach for an inward dream before tackling something larger. My intention with this article is, to encourage you to START. Don’t just be a dreamer, be a doer.
So what’s on the agenda for me today? What’s my next big dream? I’m still in the midst of working through my Cruise With A Purpose vision. That vision has evolved into a number of challenges. I’ve developed an organization called the United Port Outreach Commission, which you can see at www.portoutreach.org, an expanded version of my big Cruise With A Purpose dream. That dream is still in-progress. I have a new project that is very exciting which ties together many of my cruise-related interests, and you can see this at www.cruisetalkshow.com. I’m slowly building, laying one foundation, then laying another foundation, and so on, until I’m able to reach for and accomplish yet another dream. As my dreams become more complex, and then add the element of trying to support my family and raise my son Jacob, it’s going to take more time and patience, however, I am still optimistic that these dreams will also be fulfilled.
I don’t know if this article has had an impact on you. I hope it has. I hope this article has caused you to perhaps think a little differently than you have in the past about your purpose, your personal vision for achievement and success. Let me throw something out there for you to consider. Put-on your imagination hat for a moment. What if you had an exclusive product that no one else had? You had the exclusive rights to distribute this product. This product was very desirable and revolutionary. If people knew YOU had the exclusive rights to distribute this product, they would be calling you, asking how they can get it. Forget for a moment, the costs involved with developing, producing, packaging and manufacturing this product, as well as the millions of dollars worth of marketing to get the word out nationally about this product. Let’s just pretend you could by-pass the massive expenses mentioned above, and you could simply enjoy the profits, because people are coming to YOU wanting to know how they can get their grubby little hands on that product. You are simply pointing to them where they can get it, and you see your bank account grow and grow and bulge into an income stream that solves all your financial concerns for life. If this happened to you, how would it make you feel? What would you do with a massive bank account? How would you feel towards the person who revealed the secret to this seemingly magical scenario? If this scenario happened to you would you quit your job? How would you live your life differently? Are you starting to dream? Are you starting to imagine what it would be like? Take a moment to think about these questions as a fun exercise…………………………………………………………………………………………
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If you are dreaming and imagining and joining-in with this exercise, then good for you! What IS this world coming to and what are YOU going to do about it? I’m going to reveal a little secret right now….shhhhh….don’t tell anyone. Hang on to your dreams that you thought of during that little exercise, because that scenario, is not a fantasy, it’s based on reality, and I happen to know the secret. When will all this happen? March 2008. That’s only a short time away, relatively speaking, depending on when you read this. I’m not joking, I’m not dreaming, I’m not exaggerating…if you are interested in experiencing the scenario above, then we need to talk right away, before March comes along, so that I can fully prepare you, and position you to take-part in a massive paradigm shift that will blow across the country in a very short period of time. The magic month is March 2008. I’m ready and in position, and I want to show you how you can be too. It doesn’t matter if you live in southern California, Alaska, Texas, Florida, wherever you live is irrelevant, because this scenario I’ve shared above will happen with or without you. The question is, do you want to live the dream?
Call me at: 651-207-3731 or drop me an email at: bmvaudrin@aol.com
I have a proven track record of making my dreams come true as written above in this article. This next big super dream is focused outward towards you. I’m offering for you to be a part of this super dream…YOUR dream, and all you have to do is trust me. I’ve experienced many dreams come true for me already, and now I want to include you in the next big dream. Barry, is this going to cost me a lot of money? My answer is “no”. Barry, Is this some sort of pyramid scheme? My answer is “no”. I’m asking you to give me an opportunity to meet with you or speak with you on the phone, not for my benefit, but for YOUR benefit. It doesn’t matter if you are generating a $20,000 a year salary or a $120,000 a year salary, this scenario is big enough to make a positive impact on your life. If you’re already bringing in that $120,000 a year salary and your satisfied with that particular income…good for you, however, what if you could have that size income or better, without being tied-down and having no time to spend with your family? It really doesn’t matter what level income you have….you need to see what this secret scenario is all about. The great thing about this is that the dream is focused outward. You will be able to see others benefit and improve their lifestyle. You could be responsible for helping hundreds, perhaps thousands of people experience that breakthrough in their lives, and that’s a dream focused outward. What is this world coming to and what are YOU going to do about it? I hope you DO something about it now and give me a call. 651-207-3731
Have you ever seen something ridiculous, or cruel, or foolish, happen before your eyes and wonder…”what is this world coming to”? Worse yet, do you have a friend, relative or acquaintance that has done something utterly out of character, or just plain stupid…the kind of stupidity that reverberates through their life with significant consequences? It’s almost like some people have chosen a self-destruct sequence of events, you see it but they don’t. What do you do about it? Do you step-in somehow and try to intervene? In the same light, you see the masses (the people all around you in your city, state or even country) move in a certain direction or trend, and as if to elevate yourself above the masses, you see the trend is going the wrong way…what do you do? When you think of yourself as just another speck of humanity swarming with the masses, there’s not much you can do, however, if you elevate your thinking, transcend normal thought, be creative, and consider a better way…that’s when the magic happens. If you can think it, visualize it, and it’s semi-reasonable, that’s when you need to take a chance, swim upstream against the masses to the goal, the prize, the place where your dreams do come true. I’m not talking about fantasy, or magic, or even about that silly concept out there called “The Secret” which is sweeping the country. I’m talking about something that is personal deep within YOU, perhaps an aspiration you’ve had, something you are particularly interested in, but you sweep it aside because it appears to be unobtainable to you. To make your dreams come true it has to start with YOU, and that’s a quote from Barry Vaudrin…not bad aye?
This world we live in and the people around us are not always going to move with us, in our direction, or the direction we want to go, so we have to learn the skills to maneuver our way sometimes against the grain, which is not easy. Obstacles, diversions, walls, barriers, these are naturally going to slow us down, but where some will quit, others will continue, press ahead towards the goal, and make their plan a reality. You often have to think on your feet, but the key is to have a plan, and if that doesn’t work, have another plan, and if that doesn’t work, have yet another plan. Eventually, you’ll turn a corner and see the prize, that’s when you go get it, make it happen and embrace the prize.
The toughest obstacle for me is failure. After failing and failing over and over again, it can take it’s toll on the self-esteem and can be the element that defeats most people. I’m not terribly pleased to have experienced so much failure in my life, and I often wonder what’s the point and it has caused me to pause and re-evaluate my strategy or even if I should continue. I continue only because I can so strongly visualize success. I’ll have to admit that I have failed more than usual in recent years, only to realize that my dream is bigger than it’s ever been, so it’s tougher to climb to the top and capture the winning flag. People around me, friends, even family question my judgement, and I’m not going to ignore their warning, however, I can see the prize, so one way or another I’m going to continue on until the prize is in my hands. What is my latest dream that motivates me? I’ll get to that later.
An example of a dream come true for me might set the scene and allow me to elaborate on how I reached the prize. Since about 1979, I wanted more than anything to cross the Atlantic on the last great trans-Atlantic liner the QE2. Back then the Queen Elizabeth 2 WAS considered the last Atlantic liner, until the Monsterous Queen Mary 2 was built in 2004. My dream back then was to cross the Atlantic aboard the QE2, however my dream on steroids was to live and work aboard the ship in some capacity. I wanted so desperately to experience a trans-Atlantic crossing, because I had read so much about the old days when ships like the Mauretania, Normandie, Queen Mary, SS United States were the only way to cross from one continent to the other. There was a mystique and a romance about that lifestyle that was so compelling to me. Fast-forward to 1988 while I was in college. I planned a grand tour of Europe during the summer break where I would visit Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Norway and possibly return to the States aboard the QE2. The only way that would be possible on my college budget was to go stand-by as a travel agent. Throughout the month or so that I traveled around Europe, there was no way for me to know if I would be able to return home aboard QE2. I had to make an overseas call to the Cunard Line office in New York, a week prior to the ship’s departure, to find out if I would be granted passage. If you could have been there at that very moment I heard from the office in New York that I would be allowed to come home on the QE2, you would have seen an extremely happy college man about to burst with joy. I was so thrilled at that moment, and I only wish I could bottle that feeling and share it. I had visited the QE2 a number of times in the past, but to walk across that gangway, be issued a stateroom, and know that I didn’t have to leave the ship this time…that was a moment in my life that I will always treasure. Do you recall in the mega-hit movie TITANIC when Jack was at the bow of the ship with his buddy shouting “I’m the King of the World!”…well, that was me aboard the QE2 as we started out across the Atlantic and the ship picked-up speed. I was overlooking the bow from a very windy deck just below the ship’s navigational bridge and the thrill of that moment still inspires me today. My first crossing on an Atlantic liner was everything I imagined and hoped it would be, and my expectations were fulfilled.
Four years later, I walked across the gangway to QE2 in Southampton, dragging my steamer trunk aboard as a member of the crew. This was it. The moment I had dreamed of since I was a kid, was becoming a reality as I sign-on to QE2 as Stage Manager. In 1989 I signed-on with Royal Caribbean, then in 1991 I worked as Assistant Cruise Director aboard the Empress with Starlite Cruises. Then in 1992, I was hired as Entertainment Host with Celebrity Cruises and it was during my contract with Celebrity that I was hired to work aboard QE2. It was not easy to get the jobs working on the ships, however, after having completed my first contract with Royal Caribbean it was easier to be hired since I now had cruise ship experience. Since my first contract with Royal Caribbean in 1989, I had my eyes set on landing a position aboard QE2, and I continually pursued Cunard Line. I would send postcards from other Cunard Line ships to the hiring manager for the Entertainment department at Cunard. I sent updated resumes after each ship contract I completed. I even sent a box with one of my white cruise shoes, and wrote on the shoe, “Hopefully this is my foot in the door at Cunard”. I was persistent. I made every effort to arrange an opportunity to meet the hiring director with Cunard Line at the Los Angeles airport while he had a layover, so I could get a face-to-face interview. Every little effort I made to get the job aboard QE2 brought me one step closer and I slowly built-up a solid case over a period of three years for the hiring director to offer me a position. By the time I was hired by Cunard Line I was a seasoned cruise ship entertainment staffer. I lived out my dream! Every day while I was working aboard QE2, I had to pinch myself, to be sure I wasn’t dreaming.
I wanted to describe this experience in-full to the best of my ability, because it’s important to contrast this dream I had that was personal to me, with something I learned about creating a dream. I’ve had several dreams come true like this one, however, I have discovered a new way of thinking and strategizing for my next dream, my next big accomplishment. The dreams I had prior were focused on me, and what I personally wanted to accomplish. There’s nothing wrong with looking inward and reaching for your own personal passion, but there comes a time when the bigger dream, a more mature dream, is found by looking outward. It is somewhat selfish to dream big dreams that are focused inward, but the bigger dreams that include and affect more people than just the dreamer, is where the life-altering Super Dreams lay. These are the dreams where legends are born. These are the dreams that can change the world. These are the dreams that can snowball into affecting millions of people. These are the dreams where your selfish desires and passion is fulfilled, but with a twist, a perk, the added benefit and satisfaction knowing others can also enjoy and experience the dream too. An important thing to remember, and I’m still discovering this, is that these super dreams are tougher to accomplish. There are more roadblocks, more obstacles, more diversions, and more unknown variables attached to these bigger dreams, because you’re now dealing with the freewill of humanity, which can be very difficult to predict. You have to be flexible and willing to adjust your dream and your plan along the way.
This is information that truly is the secret to changing the world, making the world a better place. It’s a concept difficult to grasp and I‘m not sure my feeble attempts to describe it are clear. I do have an example, however, for you to gain a better vision for this concept.
For you, it would most certainly be different, but my dreams, even my super dream revolves around my interest in cruise ships. It all started with my passion for the cruise industry as a base, then I wanted to somehow combine my faith with my interest in cruise ships. I thought long and hard, and even brainstormed with a buddy of mine, Owen, and finally came up with the idea to offer a Cruise with a Purpose. My friend Owen was an evangelist, and so we initially developed the idea of offering a cruise adventure that included an evangelistic twist. We would teach our cruise passengers how to share their faith by producing a play that could be acted-out in the ports we visited. That concept changed and evolved over time to become the Cruise With A Purpose, where our passengers can, if they choose, engage in humanitarian outreach projects in the ports. They can help to feed people, offer gift packets, provide a concert, or just hold out a helping, loving hand to people in the ports who have tremendous needs. Our first Cruise With a Purpose was in 1997 to the Mexican Riviera. Our passengers embraced the concept and some returned home with a life-changing experience. Then in 1999 we produced a very successful Cruise With A Purpose called MC99, or Missions Cruise 99. This event was an amazing example of the super dream in motion. We had 225 passengers on a Caribbean cruise with stops in Roatan, Belize, Cozumel and Key West. We saw lives changed during this event, we provided a meal for about 1,500 people, helped an orphanage with desperately needed supplies, a fledgling Christian radio station received a new transmitter and there were a few on that trip that decided to go into full-time cross-cultural missions work because of what they experienced. The effects of this event touched the lives of countless people in Roatan, Belize and on the ship itself. This was a dream that had an impact on people other than little old me, the effects of which are still in-motion today. I fulfilled my selfish passion within to lead a large group on a cruise, but my dream was also instrumental in affecting hundreds, perhaps thousands of people. This is an example of taking your dream to the next level so that others benefit from your vision.
I have now shared with you two dreams that came true for me, one was focused inward, and one was focused outward. The first dream I shared of working aboard the QE2 really only affected one person….me. Again there’s nothing wrong with that, however, can you see the contrast between the two dreams? This brings to mind the title of this article, “What is this world coming to and what are You going to do about it?” I saw a need in the ports that the ships visit. Many people in these cruise ports are not able to take advantage of the millions of dollars poured into tourism, and so many people fall through the cracks. There are needs among the people in these ports, and there is a need for some to reach out to these people who struggle daily to get by. I tapped into a way to fulfill some of these needs on both ends of the spectrum. People in this world are struggling, and I found a way to do something about it. This story, however, is not about me or what I did, the point I’m trying to get across is there are so many needs, so many voids to fill, so many ways to make life easier for others, what are YOU going to do about it? The solution doesn’t have to be faith-based like my dream. Maybe you have an idea for a better widget. Perhaps you have an idea that would make life easier for the masses, if they only knew about it. What’s YOUR story and what are YOU interested in? What can you come up with that could make a positive impact on the masses? Maybe you need to start somewhere and reach for an inward dream before tackling something larger. My intention with this article is, to encourage you to START. Don’t just be a dreamer, be a doer.
So what’s on the agenda for me today? What’s my next big dream? I’m still in the midst of working through my Cruise With A Purpose vision. That vision has evolved into a number of challenges. I’ve developed an organization called the United Port Outreach Commission, which you can see at www.portoutreach.org, an expanded version of my big Cruise With A Purpose dream. That dream is still in-progress. I have a new project that is very exciting which ties together many of my cruise-related interests, and you can see this at www.cruisetalkshow.com. I’m slowly building, laying one foundation, then laying another foundation, and so on, until I’m able to reach for and accomplish yet another dream. As my dreams become more complex, and then add the element of trying to support my family and raise my son Jacob, it’s going to take more time and patience, however, I am still optimistic that these dreams will also be fulfilled.
I don’t know if this article has had an impact on you. I hope it has. I hope this article has caused you to perhaps think a little differently than you have in the past about your purpose, your personal vision for achievement and success. Let me throw something out there for you to consider. Put-on your imagination hat for a moment. What if you had an exclusive product that no one else had? You had the exclusive rights to distribute this product. This product was very desirable and revolutionary. If people knew YOU had the exclusive rights to distribute this product, they would be calling you, asking how they can get it. Forget for a moment, the costs involved with developing, producing, packaging and manufacturing this product, as well as the millions of dollars worth of marketing to get the word out nationally about this product. Let’s just pretend you could by-pass the massive expenses mentioned above, and you could simply enjoy the profits, because people are coming to YOU wanting to know how they can get their grubby little hands on that product. You are simply pointing to them where they can get it, and you see your bank account grow and grow and bulge into an income stream that solves all your financial concerns for life. If this happened to you, how would it make you feel? What would you do with a massive bank account? How would you feel towards the person who revealed the secret to this seemingly magical scenario? If this scenario happened to you would you quit your job? How would you live your life differently? Are you starting to dream? Are you starting to imagine what it would be like? Take a moment to think about these questions as a fun exercise…………………………………………………………………………………………
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If you are dreaming and imagining and joining-in with this exercise, then good for you! What IS this world coming to and what are YOU going to do about it? I’m going to reveal a little secret right now….shhhhh….don’t tell anyone. Hang on to your dreams that you thought of during that little exercise, because that scenario, is not a fantasy, it’s based on reality, and I happen to know the secret. When will all this happen? March 2008. That’s only a short time away, relatively speaking, depending on when you read this. I’m not joking, I’m not dreaming, I’m not exaggerating…if you are interested in experiencing the scenario above, then we need to talk right away, before March comes along, so that I can fully prepare you, and position you to take-part in a massive paradigm shift that will blow across the country in a very short period of time. The magic month is March 2008. I’m ready and in position, and I want to show you how you can be too. It doesn’t matter if you live in southern California, Alaska, Texas, Florida, wherever you live is irrelevant, because this scenario I’ve shared above will happen with or without you. The question is, do you want to live the dream?
Call me at: 651-207-3731 or drop me an email at: bmvaudrin@aol.com
I have a proven track record of making my dreams come true as written above in this article. This next big super dream is focused outward towards you. I’m offering for you to be a part of this super dream…YOUR dream, and all you have to do is trust me. I’ve experienced many dreams come true for me already, and now I want to include you in the next big dream. Barry, is this going to cost me a lot of money? My answer is “no”. Barry, Is this some sort of pyramid scheme? My answer is “no”. I’m asking you to give me an opportunity to meet with you or speak with you on the phone, not for my benefit, but for YOUR benefit. It doesn’t matter if you are generating a $20,000 a year salary or a $120,000 a year salary, this scenario is big enough to make a positive impact on your life. If you’re already bringing in that $120,000 a year salary and your satisfied with that particular income…good for you, however, what if you could have that size income or better, without being tied-down and having no time to spend with your family? It really doesn’t matter what level income you have….you need to see what this secret scenario is all about. The great thing about this is that the dream is focused outward. You will be able to see others benefit and improve their lifestyle. You could be responsible for helping hundreds, perhaps thousands of people experience that breakthrough in their lives, and that’s a dream focused outward. What is this world coming to and what are YOU going to do about it? I hope you DO something about it now and give me a call. 651-207-3731
Saturday, November 17, 2007
The Amazing Test Driving Adventures
When I first saw that black TransAm driven wildly by Burt Reynolds in the movie Smokey and the Bandit in 1977, I was completely captivated by how cool that car was and I wanted to drive one, but I didn’t have my driver’s license yet. My first car was a 1974 Mustang hatch-back and it was a manual transmission, so I had to quickly learn how to drive a stick in order to drive my car. It didn’t take long for me to master the manual transmission, and although my mustang wasn’t a super fast car, it was still fun to drive. I think it was around this time before I learned how to drive a stick that I test-drove my first car at a dealership. You would think that I would target the TransAm as my first test drive, but not me…I had big aspirations so I test drove the new stainless steel Delorean at Key Cadillac in Edina, Minnesota. The Delorean was a four-speed manual transmission, and the poor salesman that went with me was sweating terribly because I just couldn’t get the handle on driving a stick and so I jerked the car back and forth until I finally got it into gear…it was not a pretty sight, I’m embarrassed to say. I think the salesman kissed the ground when we finally got back to the dealership.
I personally didn’t have the money to buy a car like a Delorean or a TransAm or anything even close to that, but I really wanted to drive these cars to experience for myself what it would be like to have a fancy sports car. This was the beginning of kind of a hobby for me….test driving sports cars. Through trial and error, many test drives, and dealing with many car salesmen, I learned a unique skill, which was to manipulate a car salesman. At first, being a young kid with a driver’s license, why would any salesman even consider allowing me to test drive a brand new TransAm? I had to come up with a story that was believable, so I would tell them things like, my uncle is giving me a lot of money to buy a car, or I inherited a lot of money. You see, if I could get the salesman to see dollar-signs in his head from selling this car to me, then he would let me take it out for a test drive. I also took advantage of the basic courtesy that car dealerships offer which is to demonstrate their product. After many test drives, and feeling a little guilty lying to these salesmen, I changed my story. I learned to say as little as possible, and simply give the salesman the impression I could afford the vehicle because I was a business owner, which was true, although I still didn’t have
that kind of money to really buy these cars. After driving many cars, I learned a lot about the differences and the many features of these vehicles, so I could come to the salesman fairly knowledgeable about the cars, giving off the impression that I was an informed buyer. Basically the salesmen wanted to sell cars because that’s how they made money, and I zoomed-in on their desire to sell a car and make money off me as a buyer. Basic salesmanship 101 is to find out what the buyer wants, qualify the buyer, answer any objections, and try to close the sale. Before the salesman knew it I qualified myself, and threw out a couple of objections which usually would lead to the salesman offering to let me drive the car. Sometimes I had to ask if I could try out the car, but that was usually after I had qualified myself. I developed a formula for dealing with car salesmen, so it didn’t matter if I was trying to test drive a $25,000 Ford Mustang, or a $150,000 Lamborgini Countach, I manipulated the sales process to my advantage so I could drive the car.
I had fun. The whole purpose was to have fun. I know….I was having fun at the expense of a poor car salesman who is just trying to feed his family, but I found other justifications for what I was doing. I could say that I was honing a salesman’s sales abilities. I could also say that after driving these cars I would be able to give an intelligent referral. There was a day when these car salesmen would just give me the keys to a fancy car and let me go out on my own to drive the car. That was the best opportunity for me to really test out the car and see what it could do without worrying that I would make a salesman nervous. Tires still fuming and the engine crackling from an intense test drive, my next challenge was to get out of that dealership and away from that salesman as gracefully as possible. Some of the cars I had fun driving the most were Corvettes, TransAms, five-liter Mustangs, Porsches, and the Maserati Bi-turbo. I really had to put my skills into high-gear when trying to test drive the exotics like Ferraris, Lamborgini’s, Rolls Royce and Aston Martin. When I moved to southern California, I found myself in exotic car heaven. We just don’t have the exotic cars in Minnesota like they do in Newport Beach. Oh, I probably should also mention that I became quite good at driving fast cars and putting them through the paces. Some cars like the corvette and the mustang were fun to spin around in an empty parking lot, forming a plume of tire-smoke and leaving black spin-tracks on the pavement. These cars were designed to be driven hard like that. I also enjoyed testing out the efficiency of the anti-lock breaks, which involved zooming at 60-70 mph and then abruptly applying the breaks, initiating the ABS system and coming to a controlled stop. I recall a time when I was test-driving one of my favorite cars, the 928 Porsche, and the salesman came with me. I also had a friend a long for the ride, so the salesman sat in the back. I was speeding down the freeway at about 100 mph and took the curvy exit at a high speed, and then timed my stop using the ABS breaks, right up to the stop light. I was confident in what I was doing, but the poor salesman, not knowing my driving abilities, literally soiled his pants while sitting in the cramped backseat.
There are so many stories I could tell about my test driving adventures, and I drove just about every exotic car I would ever dream of. Some of my ultimate accomplishments were the 959 Porsche in Stuttgart, Germany at the Porsche test track, and the Vector which could go from 0-6mph in about 3.8 seconds with a max speed of 240 mph using a V8 Chevy-block engine at 1,100 horse power. It got to a point where I basically drove everything I ever wanted, so I then took those same skills and began test flying airplanes. One of my favorite test flying experiences was when I flew a Mooney out of Orange County Airport, over Newport Beach, to Long Beach, I circled the Queen Mary, then flew back to OCA and landed the plane, all without the help of the salesman who of course went with us.
I wanted to expand on when I test drove the 959 Porsche in Stuttgart, Germany. I visited the Porsche factory and got a personalized tour, then was taken to the test track where they had the 959 out for a some test runs. I simply asked if I could give it a drive and they were more than happy to drive the thing around the track a few times. There were only a small number of these 959's built and priced out at over $350,000, in fact they were so powerfully fast and they didn't conform to USA regulations, so you couldn't buy one and bring it in to the States. The 959 clocked out at around 0-60mph in about 3.5 seconds, that's what a motorcycle does! It's not a car to be driven by the weak-hearted, it was most certainly a racing machine built for not just speed, but precision, intense driving.
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