The big ones, the ones that swell up your soul when you think of a world without restrictions like time, money, and adult responsibilities.
And do you ever think about them, asking yourself why you have them and what they're there for? Have you dismissed them entirely? Do you even remember what they are?
I sat down and asked one of my friends, a single female, what she would do if she could do absolutely anything, with nothing to stop her... the kind of things you TRULY want to do, from your head to your toes and from the deepest part of your soul to the most outer parts of who you are. Granted she was tired, but she had to think about it for a minute. She began to tell me, almost apologetically, about her dreams for the future-- in fear that they didn't meet up to some grandiose scheme, plan, etc. It was beautiful, and it fit her perfectly-- her dreams described her exactly.. in such a way that you see the most real part of who she is, the kind of her that is the most like who she is meant to be. Whether it makes any sense or not, it was absolutely lovely.
I've been talking to God about and thinking on these things lately-- the dreams I have had for, what feels like, always. The kind of dreams that make my fingers itch to create, my heart scream to write, my soul long to sing. The more I have been digging at these long buried things, the more I hear the whisper growing louder: "Act now, do now, be now, go NOW"
There is no time like the present. The fact of the matter is we only get one chance to live this life, only one chance to make life beautiful. The thing is, those dreams aren't just there for us-- the world needs a people who will be willing to live out their dreams, without fear of judgment or failure. To really dedicate ourselves to a life of selfless creation and love.. a life of true passion. Be it science, math, surgery, art, or what have you, remember those dreams and begin to cultivate them. No amount of money or success chasing will get you there.
If you could go anywhere, where would you go? What's stopping you?
That was the question that began to stir my soul and tune me in to the things I've been ignoring for years.
I used to envision myself learning every language, just to be able to break the barriers of communication and truly experience every person, every culture, every heart and story there was to know in the world. I used to play guitar, and then life got busy and my guitar has been collecting dust for YEARS. I've heard God asking me why I quit ever since. Things like this and more have been shaking the dust off my soul lately. I have an excuse for everything. Why I can't, why I won't, why it's too late, why that's for someone else but not for me... but the fact of the matter is it is never too late. So long as I have breath in me to live, let these dreams be acknowledged and put into action. Let them glorify the One who put them in me, who formed me fearfully in the womb.
I don't know that I will learn every language, but it is fear that keeps us from these dreams-- faithlessness that they can successfully be carried out. Let it be said now that your view of success is probably unrealistic in the sense that you have set a vision that seems unachievable... you have said, "this dream, in order to be fulfilled, must look like this at the end result" And as a result you (this goes for me, as well) won't even begin to try. Did you know that there is a world that lives in longing, and dies in longing? Longing to see their dreams cultivated, longing to believe that it can be, longing to see others succeed. When we see people brave enough to go out and do a thing-- to fight a war, to write novels, to live and die for what they believe.... WHATEVER that looks like to you, there is a world that expects you to fail but longs, with a hope beyond hope, to see you succeed.
Don't know that I have the strength to keep finding excuses for myself much longer.
This is a challenge to myself (and to you, if you'll take it) to live not in the "not yet" or the "someday", but to say "NOW" and do what it takes to lay the foundation to make this life, this world, one worth living in. You have to start somewhere, and so... let it be now.
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