Life lessons from DOLLY PARTON

Country’s superstar has a whole lot of smarts under that blonde wig

- Judy Kean

Dolly Parton’s not only a musical icon but a woman of great wisdom. Here she shares some of the lessons she’s learned in her 75 years on this planet.

HARD WORK PAYS OFF

Dolly dreamed of being a singer since childhood and was determined to achieve her goal, even releasing her first single at 13.

She says of her incredible career, “I imagined it, I dreamed it, I worked for it and God was good enough to let me have it.”

She says when she looks back, she’s often surprised at how much she’s managed to accomplish. “I’ve always worked and I am just thankful that I’ve had the chance to be successful at it.”

ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE SILVER LINING

While she may appear to have had a fairytale life, things haven’t always gone Dolly’s way. She and husband Carl, who married in 1966, never had children and in 1982, she had to have a partial hysterectomy due to severe gynaecological problems.

So instead of nurturing children of her own, she channelled her love for young people into her Dollywood Foundation, launched in 1988 to help children achieve educational success. Her foundation later created the Imagination Library scheme, which provides children around the world with free books.