Are You Living Your Dream?

     

Martin Luther King Jr. The catalyst of the modern Civil Rights Movement. The man who literally gave his life for the one thing he believed in. His family and friends prayed for him daily. His enemies preyed on his downfall daily. He knew all of this, but in spite of, kept his move towards the mark. But this blog isn't about King. His legacy was immortalized on April 4, 1968. It's about you. Yes, you. I want to ask you one thing:

Are you living your dream?

Your dreams. What you want to accomplish. Your ideas put into action. It's what you long for; who you really want to be. Your dreams can be the smallest vision or the highest mountain. It can be as hard as you want it to be, or as simple. But at the end of the day, it's yours for you and no one else.

How often do you dream? What do you dream of? Why do people struggle to act upon their dreams? Is it fear of failure, insecurity in their abilities or chalk it up to wishful thinking that holds them back? And if that fear is there, how do we get over it?

A dream is defined as a goal, aim or aspiration. What do you want to be? How do you want to be remembered? What significance did your life play on society? These are the questions we have to ask ourselves when we set out to fulfill our purpose. We have to take in everything that we desire to have and be and put it into a feasible plan. As soon as that happens, execute it. Regardless of the shortcomings, execute. Regardless of what people tell you, execute it. Regardless of what the world thinks of what you are doing, execute it. THAT is your dream coming to life! Now don't get discouraged when things don't go your way right away; they rarely do. But your success isn't measured by victories and defeats. They are measured by your ability to overcome the obstacles set before you and rise back to the top.

I have never heard of anyone dreaming of failure or aspiring to be unsuccessful. Failure does not play any part in dreaming. It is the dreamer that instills failure, not the dream. I have read of many very successful dreamers that failed numerous times before they experienced success. The difference is that failure was not going to end their dreams only motivate them to dream bigger.

Many of us fail to seek our purpose in life when we should. We dream and then follow it up with a list of all the reasons why the dream is unachievable. We fill our lives with excuses and "I can't." Many great companies were conceived from a dream, nurtured in a garage or basement and grew to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Why not you? Why not your dream? The only true limits you experience in life are those you create or those you allow others to impose upon you. If you can dream it, you can do it! If you want to go back and get that degree, go get it! If you want to start your own business, start! If you just want to help other people, go for it! I always use myself as an example. I live in a small town of 12,000 people, but I knew I had a gift of connecting to children in a way they would be the most receptive. Through reading to them, mentoring them, and just being involved in their lives. So I took that love and I turned it into a reality. Am I world known? No. But it was my dream, what I really wanted to do, and I refused to let anything stop me. And here I am. So never let anything or anybody tell you what you can be or what you can do. The only person that can set limits on you is yourself.