Over about the past fifteen years, between working as a wife, mother, and at the hospital. I've met a lot of people: travelers, moms, dads, kids, grandparents, every day athletes, adventurers, people who wanted to be more, people who didn't know who they wanted to be, people who milked life for everything it was worth, people who couldn't imagine finding anything in life that was of worth, people who pushed the envelope, and people who couldn't stand to rock the boat.
This is what I've figured out from meeting all of these people and this is what I want to share with you.
Everyone who I have the chance to talk to has a common theme. They all had dreams at some point in their lives. Those dreams were important to them.
Dreams are central to who we are as human beings. They keep us striving, moving forward, believing, and stoking the fire inside that tells us that "everything is possible for him who believes."
Many of the people that I have talked to gave up. At some point they decided that they could not do it. Whether their goal was to become a leader or to achieve weight loss. They couldn't achieve whatever it was that they felt so strongly that they were meant to achieve. And years later when they have to describe their current goals, they are vague and filled with phrases like "I hope," "I wish," and "if." Sometimes they even say "God willing" with a tone that they are afraid that God is going to zap them in the head for hoping for something great to happen. Their faces are filled with resignation and regret, and they seem stuck.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are the people I've met who not only achieved their goals, but in many cases beat the odds and achieved the impossible.
I met a 72 year old lady who decided she didn't want to be on medication like her husband. So 5 days per week for the last 15 years she has come to the gym. She looks 59 or 60, she takes no medication and she has none of the pain associated with most people in her age category.
I have met a woman who wanted more than just working in medical records and wanted to work back in patient care who was scared to go back to school for the fear for failing… She went and now works in the lab and loves her job.
My own kids have such big dreams and I wish I could bottle up just a tiny bit to share with all!! Jordan dreams to play for Dixie High School basketball team, then BYU and one day the pros!! Madi dreams to play the piano with easy, to be a baby doctor and dancer… Korbin wants to do anything with fast cars, trucks, bikes, and helicopters…
I say all this to say that sometimes in life, there are things that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you need to accomplish. You don't need anyone to tell you what that is, you already know it so well that it burns you all the way to the bottom of your soul to think about it. Some have even tried to achieve that dream. And they decided that there were too many things in the way, therefore that dream must be stupid or impossible. And now years later they remember their dream with guilt or regret.
Why?
This is your life. This is your story and every day you take the pencil in your hand and you write another page. The failures of the past are just that. They are nothing more than the failures of the past. Even the worst failures are not a determining factor for what your life can be going forward.
Each of the people I listed above had to face setbacks and challenges in order to achieve their goals. The difference between them and the people who are filled with regret is something simple and difficult at the same time: Perseverance and determination-- in the face of what should be "impossible."
In this life, we are all meant to achieve something. Whether that be having a successful, happy family or becoming the world's greatest fill-in-the-blank.
My challenge to you is to rethink your life as it is right now.
Are you happy? Are you satisfied? If for some reason you died right now would you be absolutely satisfied with everything you have accomplished so far?
And the big question that we often neglect: When your life is complete, what kind of legacy will you leave? How will others glean positive influence from your life?
In the last Rocky movie, Rocky is old and gray and he wants to have one more shot in the ring with one of the worlds greatest. In the film, Rocky asks his co-star if she thinks he can do it. She tells him (paraphrase from memory, not exact) "All of us have that fire [to achieve something] when we're younger. But as time goes on, we ignore it. And eventually it goes away."
In the movie, the old, worn out Rocky makes it pretty apparent that if he doesn't get rid of the stuff "in the basement" he'll explode. In other words, if he doesn't achieve this one last dream, it will always be one giant regret in his mind.
You were meant to achieve something, to be something, to master that fire in your soul and to dream big.
So stop holding back and just do it. Don't let the fire die.
No comments:
Post a Comment