Don't Stop Believing

March 5, 2020

Are you letting fear hold you back? If you are honest with yourself and the dreams and passions of your youth.....you probably are. Most of us are. We can live our lives with safe choices and brave choices but unfortunately, we choose the safe ones more often than the brave ones. When you were young and brave and fearless you planned to dream bigger and to soar to amazing heights. The teachers we had, some in school or at home, helped inspire us to dream large dreams. Yet along the way, we started shortchanging our plans and future. I can imagine how sad that must make us feel. I can see God saddened that we gave up on amazing outcomes only because we lacked faith or passion. The strength or vigor. The courage to fight for our dreams like a caged lion.

I encourage you today to spend ten quiet minutes with yourself. Find the oldest and biggest most bodacious dream that lies in the base of your soul......then go pursue it!

Write a five-year plan. A ten-year plan. Use the project management skills learned in school. If you didn't learn them go teach yourself. Give that big bad dream oxygen and put it out there for yourself to see. Not sometimes, but every day. Put your dream in your sticky notes and password to your accounts to remind yourself of your daily life. Spend a little time no matter how tired you are chasing the dream. This will make every day worthwhile.

You see we can't live for just our kids, or our spouse, or our grandkids. We have to start living for ourselves too! And we can do it. I know you can do it. The hardest thing you will have to do is try consistently. Not just a little here and there but consistently. Don't worry about how long it may take. Just start moving. The time will go faster than you think.

When we talk. If we talk. Let's encourage each other about our dreams. Speak to each other about what we are doing. Please let's not talk about what we do to support our families or just how we feel but instead let's share how we are pursuing our dreams. If you don't believe it's worth pursuing then you are walking around a shell of a human. You are too scared to live YOUR life pursing YOUR dream. Remember the saddest thing is not to have died but to have died with wasted potential. Use the abilities that are in you. It is not the destination or accomplishment of your dream that will make you feel good. It is the journey! It is the courage you'll find along the way to go where you had given up on going.

Lastly, I will add this. We celebrate celebrities and famous people for the things they do but we celebrate them for having the courage to pursue their dream. Stop celebrating them and celebrate yourself. The happiest person in the world will be the reflection you see in the mirror. The very best thing is by you pursuing your dreams you will make yourself proud, you will make your loved ones proud, and you will make your maker proud too!