A Jar of Stars

By Theresa Koltes

We all have an idea. Maybe your idea is just a baby dream. Maybe a couple of stars kept in a jar, afraid to break free. But consider those people who let the baby walk, or who open the jar and let the stars out so they can fly. What happened to them?

When I think of people who turned their stars into something extraordinary, I think of people like J.K. Rowling, the authoress of the novel series, Harry Potter. She didn’t start out easy. After a difficult and painful divorce, she struggled as a single mom, living off of welfare benefits in an apartment rampant with mice.

But what is extraordinary is that someone surviving off of the government can go on to be an award winning novelist and one of the richest people in the world. J.K. Rowling is acclaimed as one of the five self-made female billionaires. Harry Potter is now a global, worth $15 billion, and has sold 350 million copies in 55 languages.

Once upon a time, when Rowling was a child, she wanted to be a writer.  But she received little support from those around her--her parents thought that studying French was more useful than English and writing. Her childhood friend was the only one who told her she was destined to be a successful writer, and she chose to believe it.

One day as she was on the train from London to Manchester, the story began unfolding in her mind. The train was delayed for a few hours, and bit by bit the details, characters and plot of the unborn Harry Potter danced into her imagination. It took Rowling a year to complete the book and find a publisher. It was five more years before the first book was finally published.

But within only a few weeks of publishing, the book went wild. She received a grant from the Scottish Arts Council, which enabled her to quit her job and write fulltime. Two years later, Warner Bros secured the film rights for the books with a seven figure estimate, delivering the books into film succession.

Today Harry Potter is one of the most known media products worldwide.

And it all started with one thought, one idea, one ambition…

Take your stars out of the jar and lay them out. Who knows where they will fly to?

P.S. From Coach Dana. Do you need help to get your dreams out of the jar? I can help you. Contact me at info@actionvisioncoaching.com