Have you ever wondered what turning a dream into reality feels like?
I used to think the manifestation of a dream would take place similarly to the Disney World and Magic Kingdom Dream. The dream comes alive when the lights sparkle, the fireworks splash out against the open sky and everyone around you is uuuhhhing and ahhwing, smiling and love abounds all around!
I always thought the dream would take place as one event, one grand explosion of effort, commitment, sacrifice, conviction, passion, consistency and belief, brought into one-single-moment of personal triumph and recognition…kind of like when expedition forces climb Mt. Everest against all odds and challenges, and after much preparation and effort reach the summit-one-individual-at-a-time!
Well, I dreamed this is how it would be when that soul-gnawing dream inside me would actually become real. I imagined my own world would stop from sheer emotion and achievement.
After all that soul-wrenching challenge to overcome self-doubt and uncertainty in order to pursue the realization of making a difference, I now see that fear and doubt created a mystery that permeated my purpose with an illusion that made my heat-felt dream appear unatainable, unreachable!
What a game we play with ourselves!!! Now I see why dreams seem so distant, almost impossible and improbable for us all. We make dreams out to be some impossible feat, fill ourselves with fear, doubt, inequity, lack and sprinkle all the labels we’ve heard, the criticisms we’ve had to endure and succumb to, laddle all the challenges we’ve had to combat, then we finally give up on the dream and walk away in defeat thinking we were never good enough to even believe…what a story we tell ourselves.
As I am literally stepping into my dream, I see a space of duality inside my mind in order to recognize and validate that which I am creating. On the surface what I most focus on is what I need to do to realize my vision, I see the stuff that needs to take place, the people I need to contact, the things yet to be done. In the midst of the worry, I forget my dream is taking shape!!! I forget to enjoy the journey, to breath back, to let go.
Often I remind myself of my WHY. I remind myself of my ultimate purpose, of what really matters in the greater scheme of my mission. Ultimately what wins is knowing I myself recognize how I can make a difference in the lives of young people. I also know turning a dream into reality is not a one-day, one-fact thing. It is a process that shapes an entity over time. A process that shapes an individual into becoming who they envisioned themselves as being…
Outside of the challenges, it is too exciting! It’s exciting because I need to look forward in order to see where I am today. I need to envision what’s going to take place when 100 youth of at-risk backgrounds come together and are inspired, moved and empowered to see renewed possibilities for their life. I imagine when NPO Leaders will feel there are people who truly care to help them make a change in the lives of youth, when a community can look at change taking place from within. When a mother who thought change could not happen, now gets a glimpse of hope that her child will have a chance at life in a renewed and personnaly empowered way. When beliefs carried by me, support others in a way that will inspire them to recognize their own true potential knowing there is a higher force at play guiding and aligning their path and life.
This is why we must learn to focus on the end result. Nothing bears greater incentive than seeing what can be with the work and resolve one commits to carrying forth.
May God grant us the power to love and empower youth for today and tomorrow. They are our source of life and our source of hope for the world.
0 Responses to “The mystery of making dreams real”