Sunday Rockin Chair Thoughts (from 9.13.09)

As we grow into adulthood though, our aspirations and goals can become “just hard work” which becomes a “home to work” routine that digs us into a rut til eventually our dreams are replaced with whatever we talked ourselves into “settling for” instead of what we truly desired to achieve. It becomes much easier to just “go with the flow” than to discover the joy of making dreams come true. The only way we can truly fail is to give up and quit; compromise is the beginning of failure.
Like a kid walking into a store and seeing a brand new shiny bicycle. Dad & Mom say, “We can’t afford the bike” and you say, “I’ll settle for a skateboard.” Dreams are slowly replaced by apathetic notions and the fear of not being able to afford the necessities of life. The fear of failure makes the wall seem much higher than it really is. So we settle for sub-standard material and the life we build won’t be able to stand against the inevitable storms that come. Don’t go with the flow because the flow is going to hell!
The dream is there to drive us, to inspire us, to provide a reason for us to move forward every day but, somewhere along the way, we sometimes compromise our standards and destiny becomes just whatever happens to us instead of what we make happen for us. We slowly begin to allow circumstances to become our reality and destiny instead of using our God given talent and ability to control the circumstances and overcome the challenges.
The reason that dreams are in our heart in the first place is for the benefit of those around us. Here’s an example from my own life: I’m a musician/songwriter. God created music, did He not? He created music and He gave me the talent and ability to create music. It is my gift. It’s God’s gift to me … not for me. God gave the gift to me to give to others and when I do, it blesses other people.