But that’s not “Godly”

This addresses the most pervasive and recurring question I receive daily – How can I trust my dreams and passions?

Tom, a sharp 27-yr-old presented himself in my office, wanting confirmation that he was on the right track. He had recently graduated from college (having taken the 7-year plan) and had taken a position with a company selling office equipment. Each morning he put on his suit and began making his calls. The company loved him, however, he was bored beyond belief. I asked him why he had taken this route and his reply relayed a common perception. Tom said that he had a great time in college; he traveled, went snowboarding, attended ball games, and spent time with his friends. Now that he had graduated he felt it was time to “grow up” and become part of the “real world.” He assumed that meant getting a job that he hated but that would prove his responsibility.

I laughed and asked who had sold him that bill of goods. We looked carefully at his skills, personality traits, values, dreams and passions. Today, Tom is co-owner of a snowboard shop in Breckenridge, Colorado. On a moonlight night you might catch him coming down a hill at 3:00 AM, testing one of his new designs.

What is it that you find naturally enjoyable? If money were not important, what would you spend your time doing? When do you find the time just flying by? What are those recurring themes that keep coming up in your thinking? What did you enjoy as a child but perhaps have been told was unrealistic or impractical to focus on as a career?

This is a tough area for most people. There is a subtle spiritual myth that following our dreams is likely to be selfish, egotistical, and something God would frown on. That kind of thinking implies that God is totally outside of ourselves; we are simply physical robots separated from His mind and heart. However, we are created in God’s image and as such are co-creators with Him. Why would God have created us to think imaginatively and to have vivid dreams only to then squelch those dreams for practicality? Consider the possibility that your dreams and desires are the voice of your soul, God’s voice within you, longing for expression through your faith and action. And as you move toward your values, dreams, and passions, you will move toward being more spiritual and more fully what God created you to be.

I stopped dreaming long ago

Here’s a note I just received from a No More Mondays reader: 

Yes, I still do 8.5 hours of time in my “human filing cabinet” each day.  Yes, I still dream of breaking out and finding my true calling. Yes, I’m still scared to death to do so. I stopped dreaming so long ago that I can’t even remember what I loved to do when I was 20, much less 5. I just remember loving baseball more than anything else. Maybe I should get a glove and a ball and find a wall and play catch with myself for a dozen hours, and my dreams might start to come back.  Hmmm.  Maybe I will.

That actually is a great idea.  Just breaking the cycle of our routine is often the jarring that our brains need to wake up.  Go ahead and spend that 12 hours throwing a ball against the wall – I’m absolutely confident that in that time you’ll wipe away some cobwebs, peel back the scales from your eyes and begin to get in touch with your childhood dreams. 

So often I see people who have become numbed to their dreams just because “life happens.”  Mortgages come along, kids need school books, and it’s time for new tires on the car.  Who has time to dream?  But that’s why unexpected and even unwelcome events like a job loss or a business failure often break the normal day-to-day existence and wake up our best dreams.  Take the initiative while things are okay – go spend a day at the zoo, walk 4 miles out in the country, call an old high school friend, get a massage, go on a cruise, or throw a ball at a wall for 12 hours – that just may be the tipping point to reveal your true calling.

“Dreamers of the Day”

Your dreams may be the real beginnings of the future you want.

In Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence says, “There are dreamers, but not all human beings dream equally. Some are dreamers of the night, who in the dusty recesses of their mind dream and wake in the morning to find it was just vanity. But the Dreamers of the Day are dangerous people because they act their dreams into reality with open eyes.”

Now there’s a clear picture. “Dreamers of the Day” are dangerous because they “act their dreams into reality with open eyes.” We are hearing a lot about dreams this week. Our new president has inspired people to think big, and never stop believing that big dreams can come true. Certainly, his own life story is a clear example of that.

In today’s sophisticated, technological world we often dismiss our night dreams as the result of too much pizza or having too much on our minds when we went to bed. But what about those day dreams? Are they to be dismissed as just random thoughts passing through our brains? Should we pay attention to those “dreams” or just hunker down and be “realistic” and “practical” with the economy in the shape it is? With jobs being lost, homes being foreclosed, 700 billion dollars up in smoke, and General Motors on the brink of disaster, surely now is not the time to dream. Or is it? Haven’t you experienced in your own life how those times of trials often release your best ideas? Have you ever taken a dream and acted it into reality? Isn’t that where your best ideas started?

Could your “dreams of the day” be the seeds of creative problem solutions and the opening door into your greatest new opportunities?

*******************************************
“Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate accomplishments.” — Napoleon Hill
*******************************************
As a life coach, nothing concerns me more than beginning the coaching process with someone who says they have no dreams. No dreams traps people in jobs they hate, relationships that have never blossomed, and cars, houses and clothes that serve nothing but utilitarian functions.

Don’t underestimate the value of your night dreams for problem solving and creative approaches to your situation. And by all means, keep dreaming during the day. Tap into those recurring thoughts and ideas that have followed you for years.

*******************************************
“All successful men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.” — Brian Tracy

********************************************
If you can’t dream it, it won’t likely happen. Success doesn’t sneak up on us. It starts as a dream that we combine with a clear plan of action. Become a Dreamer of the Day and watch your success soar.

Even the Bible tells us — “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Prov 29:18)  We are not going to perish as individuals, families, companies or a nation — unless we ignore those beautiful dreams of the day.