Ever notice that kids don’t have to be taught to dream about their future? They believe they can accomplish anything and be anything they want. They can be president, an astronaut, a cowboy, even a dinosaur.
What did you dream about when you were a kid?
I bet the dream wasn’t so much about your occupation, but about the desire to be great and do great things. You knew then that your life counted and mattered. The dream was about boldly declaring to the world “I was here and my time here mattered.”
Somewhere along our journey as adults we crossed a line and stopped dreaming for ourselves and instead placed all of our hopes about the future on our kids. You need to have dreams and goals for your kids, but not at the sake of having none of your own.
My prayer for you is that the dreams you used to dream would awaken inside of you. That you would dream new dreams and bigger dreams for your future.
Life can suck your dreams right out of you…work…homework…dinner…bathtime…bedtime…repeat. Throw in a failed marriage, a failed business, a financial set back, health problems, or caring for a sick loved one, and dreams seem like something better left for children.
What were those dreams you used to have when the world was younger and the future seemed bright? Was it to start a business or a non-profit? Write a book? Get a degree? Retire?
Along this last decade or maybe the last 2 decades in the midst of surviving you lost something. You probably didn’t realize you lost it, but it shaped your life the moment you let it go. What did you lose?…
The belief that your dreams were possible.
Somewhere over time you put your dreams in a plastic tub (for nostalgia’s sake), because you didn’t think your dreams were really possible anymore.
What if they are possible? Allow yourself to go there. Allow yourself to actually believe that.
Maybe you’re thinking, “They aren’t. I’ve tried and it didn’t work out.” I don’t know a single person who dreamed a dream and it worked out the first time. If you expect life to be perfect and smooth sailing you are setting yourself up for massive let down. We know that on the surface, but we forget it when we are right in the middle.
When your dreams don’t match the reality you are living, quitting will always be enticing. It’s true whether it’s getting out of debt, sticking with your marriage, or finishing your doctorate. Quitting always looks easier than any challenge you will face, but if you aren’t careful you can develop a pattern of quitting.
Have you developed a pattern of quitting dreams?
It’s time to break the cycle, instead of being stuck in it.
It’s time to make things happen, instead of letting things happen.
It’s time to live with intentionality, instead of living by routine.
It’s time to live out of faith, instead of living out of memory.
It’s time to dream again.
