Dream Heroic Dreams
I believe that we are not here on this planet, in this moment, by accident. I believe that there is a purpose – a masterpiece level purpose to our existence. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Ephesians 2:10
“For you are God’s Masterpiece, created anew in Christ Jesus for the good work, He ordained for you from the beginning.”
I am not sure what you believe in but I want you to know, is that you are a masterpiece with a mission. I love the story of the artist that looks at a blank canvas and sees this amazing work of art before the first stroke of a paint brush touches it. Or the sculptor that sees a David in the marble and then sets out to remove everything from the marble that hinders the rest of the world from seeing what he or she sees.
The same is true in our lives. I believe that if we want something more, we need to begin to see it in our lives. As a child we would dream of being an astronaut and going to the moon or to Mars. Maybe your dream was being a policeman or fireman or soldier. All of these dreams have one thing in common – they have no limits to them and they are heroic. They will require all that we have to make them happen and as they are happening, they change the world – make a difference to so many and our world is better place because of it.
So, when was the last time you dreamed? I don’t mean while you slept – I mean dreamed about a future you can get excited about. Many of us, if we are honest, have to say that we have stopped dreaming.
What happened to our dreams? Did someone or something come in the night and steal them? I believe the answer to that question is – YES. The world can be a giant dream stealer/killer. The world teaches us fear and to settle for less. The world wants to put limits on our thoughts and capacities. Or it can set such unattainable standards that it becomes depressing to consider. So we just stop… and endure the misery of a dreamless life.
You may be saying , “Yeah, that may be fine for some but you don’t know me or my circumstances. I can’t do that because…____” I know everyone is going through something. I know that everyone has struggles. Some of those struggles are beyond my capacity to imagine. And yet, everyday we hear about someone who overcomes the impossible to do the incredible.
Look at Joni Erickson Tada. She was involved in a diving accident that left her a quadriplegic. She struggled with life at every level but then something happened – she decided to live and not give up. She wrote her story with a stick in her mouth to touch the keys on a keyboard. She began to paint – the same way. She began reaching out and speaking to those who were going through the valley of deep and dark depression, where she had been. She began speaking at conferences and offered hope and encouragement to more people than can be counted. She has recorded music, made a movie and has written more books. She married to a wonderful man. She overcame the impossible to live a heroic life – experiencing success and a life that most would envy, all while being unable to walk, hold someone’s hand or much of what most of us consider normal and take for granted.
Then we have a guy born with no legs and no arms, Nick Vujicic, and he changes the world. We have blind woman, Helen Keller, who inspired a whole generation. There have been those with severe mental illnesses recover (Ann Sullivan plus many others) and make such an impact, that the world was not the same. The names are too many to mention in this short story.
What I want you to gather from this is that we can make a difference in this world but we have to begin with a dream – a heroic dream. Maybe, this dream is even a bit scary. It is likely beyond our current financial or physical abilities. We might have to learn some new skills to get this done or we might have to go back to school. That’s ok… just do it. I was listening to an interview with Kobe Bryant about coming back from injuries, of which he had many over his 20+ year career in the NBA. Each time, he would look at the path before him and break it all down into the smallest component and daily, even hourly steps to get to where he could perform at the highest level – again. He had been to the mountaintop. He knew what it was like and he wanted to get back and was willing to do whatever it took to get there. So each time – he set the dream in front of him – performing at the highest level and leading his team to another NBA title, a heroic dream indeed. Then he would map it out – the physical work he would need to do in order to recover and rise again.
Why can’t we do the very same in our own world? Why can’t we decide to breathe that rare air of a dream, then map it out in a day by day process and plan and then set out to make it happen? Why not?
Is it going to be hard – yes. Is it going to take sacrifice – yes. Is it going to take a personal investment of time – absolutely yes. It may take money you do not have – find it, save it, sacrifice in other areas to make it available. Maybe you get financial assistance because it requires education – those resources are available. If it’s a business, maybe you have to borrow money or get an investor – you do what it takes. Maybe it requires talent beyond your gifts and skill set- partner with others.
You can do this! You might have to give up some things to do this. It will mean setting down your devices or turning off the tv. It will mean reading some books on the topic. But the key is to create a road map – a plan that focuses on the daily tasks that move you toward your dream – your heroic dream – your world changing dream.
So let’s walk through this a little…
Step One – get quiet somewhere. One of my favorite places is my front porch. I put earphones on and play something relaxing from the CALM application on my phone. When it is early and there is no traffic, sometimes I just let the birds be my music. I get out my journal, which is a daily planner/meditation journal that I have created. I begin my writing with either something I am grateful for, a prayer to God or whatever is on my mind – I just write it down. When I just begin, it is amazing how the words and ideas begin to flow.
But what I want you to do, in this planning and dreaming phase is to be very intentional –
Step Two – Dream! Write that word down – Dream. Then add Heroic in front of it. What is your heroic dream for your future? I would just write whatever words or phrases come to mind – keeping it focused but not limiting it to what you think might be possible. Dream big… then dream bigger… Find that one big dream that is so big it scares you. Circle that dream on your page and then begin to write what it would mean to the world if that dream became a reality. What would it mean to you if it were to happen? Use emotion in this writing. Write about how this would impact someone you know personally – maybe it’s you. Then I want you to begin to think about the various steps to get there. There is a term called – reverse engineering. It is where you take a project or a product and you work backwards from the finished product to figure out how to make it, breaking it down to its most basic level. Do the same with this dream.
You maybe saying, “I don’t know where to begin beyond the dream.” My recommendation is to find someone who has done or at least something close to what you are dreaming about doing and read their book or articles about them. Study the process of doing this. Maybe it is creating a product and getting it to market – there are hundreds, if not thousands of books and stories about that. Maybe it is relieving a world problem, like hunger or clean water – read about it and see what others have done. Maybe it is becoming a writer and getting a book published or even becoming a best-selling author. People have written about this. Get their book – whoever it is and see how they did. I am not saying you have to repeat their exact process but success leaves clues and trailblazers leave a trail. Then break it down even further – what do I need to be doing everyday in order to make this happen? Make a daily plan that is manageable – most likely you are going to have to work to make a living so, make sure it is not hurting you. But just keep adding to it – each day. Robin Sharma calls it “micro-wins” and “day stacking”. Making small but incremental progress each day is what will make this dream a reality. After all – how do you eat the elephant? One bite at a time.
I will write more about planning out your dream and your day in future writing but today… just for today, I want you to DREAM HEROIC DREAMS. I had a moment this morning in my own writing where I caught this fire in my soul – a heroic dream. I want to write to 2 million people – in other words, I want the words of this book I have written, and this blog posts will be part of that writing, to be read by 2 million or more people. But I don’t want them to just be read, I want them to be deeply impactful – life changing words that they read – I want the words that they read to make a profound difference in their lives. So I am committing at least 90 minutes a day to writing, I have already begun my next book and this blog will be part of it. But then I am not done. I have close to 100 other titles that I have plans to write about as well. I have a dream that is bigger than me. Will you join me in my heroic dream by creating your own heroic dream and sharing it with the world?
Dream… what is your heroic dream? Going to the moon or beyond? Changing the world? Making the world a better place? You can do it, but you have to begin and then believe that the impossible is no longer impossible for you. I realize that this is a huge leap of faith. But can you believe – just for today, that the impossible is possible, if you work at it each day? I think you will be amazed at what happens each day as you begin to make steps toward your dream – the impossible becomes your new reality. And what an amazing world that could look like, be like… I believe that the world needs your dream. I believe that the world will be a better place because you not only dreamed the impossible but set out to make it happen. But my question is –
Do you believe?
Will you dare to believe that the impossible could happen with enough hard work and determination?
I want you to take a moment and dream… will you at least do that today?
Always remember – Your Life Matters – Today!
God Bless You! Make it a great day!
Dr Cliff
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