Good morning!  The beginning of the last holiday weekend of this summer and we would like to publish an editorial by a leading expert in her field.
Donna J Jodhan is the president of Sterling Creations, a company that is one of the leading small businesses in communication services.
Donna produces a monthly editorial for her free online magazine and we would like to share this month's editorial with you.
We hope you enjoy your long holiday weekend.
 
Dare to dream
By Donna J Jodhan
 
In a world where everyone is becoming busier just trying to keep up with all kinds of things around them, I still dare to dream.  In a world where it appears that we are a bit too busy to care for each other, I still dare to dream.  In a society where we spend more time thinking about ourselves instead of listening a bit more to each other, I still dare to dream. 
 
Yes, I dare to dream and it is the one thing that no one can take from me.  I dream that some day soon we as a people will start to realize that there is much more to life than just keeping up with the Joneses and Smiths.  I dream that some day very soon companies will wake up and realize that in order to stay in business they will have to change the way in which they offer services to seniors and persons with disabilities.  I dream that sooner than later governments will really start to walk the walk instead of just talking the talk when it comes to treating persons with disabilities equally.  I dream that some day sooner than later women will be recognized for their abilities.
 
As a professional woman who is blind and of mixed race, I face many challenges on a daily basis but it does not stop me from daring to dream.  So the A & P supermarket in my neighborhood refuses to assist me whenever I go shopping and their head office says that "They are not in the business to help people, they are in the business to sell groceries." That will not stop me from daring to dream.  So the R.E.B. Magnetics company refuses to understand that if they offer their Sudoko game to blind consumers they should provide the instructions in Braille.  That will not stop me from daring to dream. 

 

So there are those chess clubs in Toronto who just don't seem to have the time of day to accommodate blind chess players.  That is not going to stop me from finding other avenues to play chess and daring to dream.  So there are those who were afraid to teach me to ice skate but you know what?  Thanks to Jan Haney I learned to ice skate and I dared to dream.

 

I keep on daring to dream because of wonderful people I meet every day during the course of my life.  Believe it or not, there are people like the folks at the Hadley school for the blind who offer distance learning courses to blind and visually impaired people around the world at no cost.  There are wonderful people like the folks at the United States Chess Association who help to keep dreams alive.  There are wonderful small companies like One Stop Internet Solutions that really understand how to provide true blue customer service.  There are persons out there who will go out of their way to help me dare to dream and for this I am eternally grateful. 

 

I continue to dare to dream and it is because of this that I continue to be successful.  I have always dared to dream and it is why others have been encouraged to help me fulfill these dreams.  To the folks at Concordia and McGill universities in Montreal, the Montreal Association for the Blind, the folks at Microsoft Canada and Novelle Canada, and to so many others too many to mention, thank you!

 

Now you can view blogs written by Donna at http://www.numpadplus.com/blog under the access and accessibility category
and you can also see her monthly editorial at http://www.onestopbookcafe.com under the café talk link. 
Donna also hosts a weekly feature called important answers to consumers concerns at http://www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html
and her company's free monthly online magazine can be found at http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/magazine.html