Do you have a dream? Maybe you have more than one. What is it? Seriously -- what is it?
How often are you tempted to give up on it? Or maybe just push it to the background?
As we start a new year, it's important to revisit those dreams. Maybe you'll need to do some digging in the storage room of your heart and mind to find it. Is it wearing some decorative cobwebs because it's been ignored?
Sometimes dreams take a while to realize. I was bitten by the writing bug back in Grade 7. I had a teacher -- Mr McGrath -- who encouraged creativity and actually had a project I wrote published in the Board of Education magazine. It was the first time I saw my stuff in print. I was hooked! But it has come and gone over the years. Sometimes life got in the way. One of the most common failings of aspiring authors is that they don't write. They want to, but they don't get to it. Besides creativity, it takes time, energy, and commitment. Did I mention time? So my writing has waxed and waned.
What about you? Where's your dream at these days?
So, as you start into a new year, I invite you to revisit that dream. Maybe you don't know how to accomplish it. That's okay. Three quick things:
Working at how isn't fatal. Losing hope is. If, when you think about your dream, the biggest question is "how am I going to do that," don't worry. As long as you hope or believe, you'll find the how.
God/ the Holy/ Spirit (find the term that sits best with you) believes in you and in what you can accomplish. The stories of the faith journeys down through the generations indicate that, the Holy is forever calling us onward into bigger dreams. Too often we settle for just enough. But people who still hope, still believe, still dream can do great things.
If you keep hope ("the why") alive, then how figures itself out. A lot of people get hung up because they can't figure out all of the steps to reach their dream. If that's holding you back, then take the next best step. What's one thing you can do -- today or this week at the latest -- that gets you closer to your dream? Do that, and then evaluate. When you're driving along a dark country road at night, your headlights don't have to illuminate your destination, just the next few car lengths ahead. Figure out why you want it and take the next step. You probably won't see all the steps and that may be a good thing. Because there may be a step down the road that you can only accomplish because of what you learned taking the steps between where you are now and where you'll be. So do the next best thing.
Why? Because the world needs your dream!
www.irossbartlett.com
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