“You have a dream. You have an idea of what you want. Sometimes this idea is so clear you can describe it in minute details. Other times, you have to work hard to bring it to the forefront of your consciousness.
Sometimes you know, really know, this dream will come true. Sometimes you doubt and feel foolish for having such a dream. Sometimes you try to forget this dream and tell yourself you are better without it.
But this dream has a life of its own. It will never leave you. It is always with you, inside of you, urging you to bring it forth. You can
temporarily ignore it, but if you abandon it, or kill it, you will suffer. For this dream is a vital part of you.
This dream challenges you and dares you to become worthy of it. This dream teases and taunts you. This dream beckons and calls to you.
Listen to it, respect it and cherish it. Your dream is a wise counselor, pointing the direction you are meant to take.
Does you dream scare you? Good. It is the right size. Does your dream make you ask yourself, “”Who do I think I am””? Good. It is bold enough. Is this dream hard for you to talk about? Good. It is personal enough.
It matters not what other people think of your dream. The more they attempt to diminish your dream the more they signal how frightened they are of their own. Pay no attention to them.
Nurture Dreams Daily
All progress frightens the vast majority who have buried their own dreams.
Keep your dream to yourself or share it with a few trustees, but nurture it daily. Take it out and spend some quality time with it early in the morning or just before you go to bed. Close your eyes frequently during the day and daydream with it. This is not a waste of time as we have been taught but a wise investment.
Dreams have a life of their own, but they need assistance to come true. What sustains dreams is the faith you have in them and what brings them forth is the action you take. Dreams without effort is the faith without action we been counseled against.
Wishful thinking is pleasant. Dreams are disturbing. Wishful thinking is an acknowledgment of impossibility. Dreams are insistent reminders of what we are meant to do and be. Wishful thinking lets us off the hook. Dreams hold us by the scruff of the neck.
If you ever have the chance to visit the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota, do. Better yet, create an opportunity to go. There you will see an immense dream coming true. In 1939, the Sioux Indians shared a dream with self-taught sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, of carving a mountain into a memorial of Chief Crazy Horse.
What’s Crazy?
A crazy idea. Preposterous. Who would pay for such a thing? It would take a lifetime or more to finish. And yet Korczak accepted the direction his dream gave him and single-handedly began. Later his wife and 10 children joined him. Today, relying on private
contributions only, the immense statue in the round, is emerging from the mountain and plans are under way for a university, a medical training center, and an Indian museum.
What inspired me on my first visit there, was not just the physical wonder of it, but the words of this dreamer. On a continuous playing video at the center, I heard him say that nothing, lack of money, poor health, fear, or even death, should prevent us from doing our work.
He died in 1982. His work continues. He was a man of immense faith in his dream. The faith that literally moves mountains.
Not all of us are called to carve a mountain, but we are all called to do our work, which is what our dreams require of us. The obstacles in our way are just the lessons we want to learn. Yes, I did say we want to learn. For without forward progress our spirits sag, our eyes dull, and our song remains unsung.
Take out your dream, polish it up, accomplish a few steps daily and above all, keep the faith. Your dream has the power to lift you above
the soul robbing mundanity of daily life, enabling you to do what you have to do, so you can do what you are meant to do.
Billi Lee is an international keynote speaker, author, radio commentator and producer of the “”Success Savvy.”” seminars. For information, visit (billilee@billilee.com).”
