A lot of people have big dreams of things they want to do in life. But how many people actually get around to doing anything about those dreams? Sadly, not that many.
I was excited to read an article in the paper last week how one local man is doing something about his dream. C. Ivan Stoltzfus of Honey Brook, PA is driving his 1948 two-cylinder tractor across America in an expedition called Across America for Wounded Warriors.
In an interview, he was asked when he started dreaming about this adventure. He said it all started when he was a young boy.
My father went across America for a year working farm to farm. Later, he started farming with a two-cylinder tractor, and I loved the sound of that tractor. I started dreaming of going across America – but on a tractor. One day, he told me that if I have a dream to “just do it.”
So, on April 26, about a week ago from the time I’m posting this, C. Ivan Stoltzfus left Manasquan, New Jersey in his 1948 John Deere Model A tractor. He plans to trek all the way across the country to Crescent City, CA by sometime this fall.
As you can see in the photos, his 1948 tractor has been modified for the trip. Actually, he got the cab from an old Peterbilt tractor-trailer and had it custom fitted to his tractor. How great is that!
What I love about this story is that he’s doing something about his dream. The advice his father gave him is really great.
“If you have a dream, just do it.” (Tweet that!)
At face value, that advice can seem too simple, or too impractical… but what if it’s not.
What if, in the times when we feel stuck and unhappy, we’re over thinking it. Maybe it’s time we stopped giving the same old excuses as to why we can’t do something and, like C. Ivan Stoltzfus, “just did it?”
You can follow Ivan’s journey at Across America for Wounded Warriors.
Photos courtesy of http://helpamericanheroes.com
