Shape Your Dreams
What is it you want to do? It is a simple question, one we have all been asked since we were little children. Since grade school we have had to write essays about what we wanted to with our lives. Yet when I ask adults this question I am often met with befuddlement. What do you want to do with the life you have?
When I say that someone is a craftsman what do you think of? Do you image a woodworker carefully shaving a piece of wood until it is smooth, one gossamer sheet at a time? Maybe you think of the blacksmith, diligently hammering a way at a piece of metal, shaping and molding it to a design that only he can see.
Our dreams are often large and grand. They stretch our horizons and push us to accomplish things we once never thought possible. Yet without us, the dreamers, our dreams would amount to nothing at all. This is why it is so important that we improve and build upon our skills while we reach for our dreams.
When an archer spends all day at the range, they are building their skills. The same for an artist who paints and paints and paints, he is preparing his skill set. When it comes to your dreams, do you consider the skills you are building? Do think you are honing your abilities for the future? Or is what you do merely a hobby?
We all spend a lot of time chasing our dreams. We sacrifice mornings, nights and weekends in the pursuit of our goals. To many this seems an odd thing, spending so much time working towards something that has no guaranteed payoff and no instant reward. Some of us stay in the perpetual state. Always working towards our dreams but never achieving them. I want all… →
Our dreams provide a lot of services to the dreamer. They give us hope. They can give us purpose. They can give us a community. Our dreams can also challenge us in ways we never expected or even considered. Our dreams have the wonderful ability to stretch out our horizons and skill sets in a way few things can.
I recently spent some time at a friends house breaking in their new fire pit. It was a great time roasting marshmallows and hanging out. However there was a problem, the fire wasn’t burning very well. In fact, in spite of our best efforts it never really became the flaming conflagration we imagined it to be. You see we had built the fire pit to… →
Back in January people all over the world set new goals for themselves to achieve in 2015. They put down a plan to attain new heights, there were new languages to learn, or new exercises to get out and do. Maybe you were one of these people. You set out with high hopes and the determination that this year would be different. Before the end… →
The dream and the dreamer have a special relationship. One does not exist without the other. The two are one and same, fostering hope and inspiration for one another. As one changes so does the other, a reflection of both dreamer and the dream. Yet it seems that so many of us have a one sided desire for our dreams. A wish. A hope. Passive… →
Every year I am asked about those that have no dreams. What if I don’t have a dream? What if my dream is broken? What if my dream is lost? Life is hard and dreams are fragile things. Sometimes they are left behind, sometimes our dreams don’t work out. Does this mean that we are somehow broken or deformed? Does that mean we can no longer dream?