On Chasing Dreams
Do you have a dream? Have you lived it? Have you tried? Have you had a taste only to have it slip through your fingers? Or was it ripped from your grasp?
How far did you chase that dream? Or did you pursue at all? Did you let it go, watch it ride into the sunset? Or did you follow with reckless abandon, sacrificing your money, your time, your life? If God has opened a window. how do we know if it’s closed, or just momentarily obscured? Or how do we know God opened that window at all?
Have you let your dream go, and only lived to regret it? Or have you watched your dream grow? All of us want the American dream, or some dream, but not all of us can have it. Someone has to live the mundane. Someone has to do the dirty work. Does the trash collector have a dream?
We cheer on the dream chasers. Tell them, “You can do it!” And “Don’t give up!” We’re fueling their desires, but are we paying their bills? Are we sharing our resources? And when their dream fails, are we there to pick up the pieces? We root for the underdog, but do we take him in when he loses the fight?
It’s a classic battle between heart and mind. Between the voice of reason and the voice of relentless determination. Is giving up realistic? Or ridiculous?
Do you have a dream? Have you lived it? Have you tried?
I love these questions. I have a dream: I want to finish a novel. The dream is about finishing it, loving it and believing it. I am half way through. I might hate it, but I’m going to keep going.
Halfway is huge! I am only 10% through, so you’re way ahead. 🙂 If anyone can do it, I know you can!
My dreams kill me sometimes because while I love love LOVE being a mom, all of them involve long periods of not-watching-kids time, so it’s insanely hard to accomplish them. I also like to work fast, so that doesn’t happen either. My dreams are all sort of…delayed. Mostly I pursue and sometimes I have seasons I have to fully just give them up and watch kids. That’s fine too because my kids are really bigger than my dreams, but my dreams are important too. Finding balance is hard.
Yes! I loved your line: all of them involve long periods of not-watching-kids time. I hear you! And I also love this: my kids are really bigger than my dreams. 🙂
My greatest dream was to have children and I’ve been blessed to have realized that dream. It may sound simple and not very imaginative, but it wasn’t an easy accomplishment (and it was accompanied by its share of nightmares in the process). Sure, I have other dreams, but I’ve worked harder to accomplish motherhood than anything else in my life, and I try to remember that when these kiddos are pushing my buttons and making me want to scream!!
I don’t think it sound simple at all, Amy. Each of us has a dream and it may not be spectacular by others’ definition, but it is ours. Don’t downgrade what you want/need/dream of. Own it; it’s wholly yours and you have to trust that it’s worth acknowledging. Also, motherhood ain’t easy! Ha.
Oh Amy, this was not an easy dream for you! All of the things you’ve been through. But, I’m glad you have them to push your buttons now. Who else would I be able to gripe on the phone with while our kids act like maniacs in the background?
I have a few dreams, none of which I seem to be able to make reality. There’s the novel, the fabulous (at least enjoyable) line of work. There’s financial security, extending the back of my house, teaching. I have plenty. Why can’t I seem to buckle down and work on any of them? I know they’re worth the effort and I’m not honoring any of my dreams by not pursuing them. At the same time…ugh. I need a motivational mentor, someone who will stay with me all day and say No, do this; no, do this; not Pepsi, water; not fried chicken, baked; sit. Write.