Sherry A Phillips

Do you have a dream?

Of course you do! Everyone has a dream!

Most of us lose sight of the dreams we had growing up or while students in high school or college. Sometimes it’s life and it’s disappointments and sometimes it’s because someone told us the dreaded, “You’ll never be able to do that” and we believed them.

Our natural response is to protect ourselves, so we deny our dreams and put them away. We are afraid to reach out to people, resources, and opportunities that could support it.

Jack Canfield writes a story about author Catherine Lanigan on his blog:

I want to share a quick story about my friend Catherine Lanigan. She had earned a college scholarship on her strengths as a gifted writer. Catherine’s Harvard professor gave her an F on her first short story and convinced her she had no talent. She wrote nothing more for 13 years.

Then one day in her small Texas town Catherine visited a movie set. When she expressed her desire to be a writer, one of the scriptwriters shot back, “B.S.! If you wanted to be a writer, you would have written.”

When Catherine explained how her professor discouraged her, the scriptwriter replied, “An academic guy? What does he know? I write for a living. Tell you what. You go home and write something and send it to me, and I’ll tell you if I think you have any talent in the real world of commercial literature.”

A year later, Catherine finished her novel and sent it to the scriptwriter, who loved it and sent it to his agent in New York. The agent also loved it and asked to represent her work. Catherine’s first novel was followed by numerous others including Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile, which became a major motion picture.

Are you like Catherine? Did you once have a dream that you have forgotten? Or, maybe you never forgot it and it has been festering inside you for many years. If so, you owe it to yourself to dig it out of it’s buried place and share it with the world.

The only time it’s too late to pursue your dreams is when you are six feet under.

You owe it to God, yourself and to those around you to be the best you can possibly be. I believe that if God has put a desire in your heart to pursue something, then you should do it. Someone may need your help. They may need your encouragement.

There is a story I read a few years ago about a woman who was 50 years old and always dreamed of being a doctor. When her adult daughter asked her why didn’t she go back to school and become one, her response was, “Because I’ll be 58 years old by the time I’m finished.”

The daughter responded, “And how old will you be in 8 years if you don’t?” The woman went back to school and is still practicing medicine today. Imagine the people she has helped because she dared to dig up her old dreams.

Three Steps to Getting Started

1. Get in touch with who you are. What is it is that really wants to come through you? What will propel you through any obstacle, no matter how big it might seem?

2. Gather feedback, however, don’t let someone else’s opinion bury your dream as Catherine did for so long.

3. Try things you’ve never tried before to see what works. As Jack points out, when we were kids, we’d try anything, but now? Today a child having a computer problem will hit every button to get it to work. Many adults fear touching the wrong button will break it.

Don’t be afraid to try, fail and try again. Embrace your journey and enjoy the pursuit.

Imagine your life as one great big experiment and have fun! Keep experimenting until you find the life you imagine!

Have a blessed day!