Hold Fast to Your Dreams

One of my favorite poems is written by The Harlem Poet, Lanston Hughes:

Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die,
life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams go,
life is a frozen field covered with snow.

On this, the first day of my 53^rd year, I’m reflecting on the difference having dreams and goals have had in my life. Dreams have resulted in activity that today gives me pause for tremendous gratitude.

When I turned 40, I stumbled across a book that challenged me to write out 101 goals for the next 10 years of my life. Eventually, I got my list done and then went to work checking off those goals one by one. Now 12 years later, I continue to check off, update, remove and add items to this dream list.

What hit me last night was how much these goals are still creating motivation and spurring me on to put landing gear on the dreams yet to be achieved (even during this season of recovery!)

I crunched the numbers and came up with 5,040. That is the total number of hours I’ve spent in my recliner (so far) since the accident.

There’s no doubt that some of my goals are on hold right now like “qualifying for the Boston marathon” (I’m not letting go of that one just yet) but there are plenty of dreams I can achieve even from my recliner! One of those goals is to write two books by 2015.

Just this week I started an online writing course to improve my writing skills, learn about publishing and make this blog as good as it can be so I can turn it into a book in 2013. I’ve written 17,000 words so far towards a goal of 50,000 words which should be enough for a book.

There are lots of things I can’t do but I’m focusing on the things I can do.

Having a “can do” attitude helps…

• Keep me moving forward
• Puts energy towards productive projects
• Fuels hope and optimism
• Rubs off on others and serves to inspire
• Gives me a reason to get up in the morning and get to my recliner
• Gives focus to my prayers, my reading, my living and my loving

The bottom line is I have a dream to make a difference in the hearts and minds of the people I meet and interact with. If I can encourage you in some small way to not give up on your dream, but keep going and growing in spite of your circumstances, I will feel like I’ve done something meaningful with my life.

You may be going through a dark valley, grieving a loss, wondering what’s next, feeling like you’ve lost your way, or simply coasting through life without a dream. Let me encourage you to find your dream and hold fast to that dream, letting the energy it creates give you a reason to get up in the morning and keep going.

I’m here to testify to the power of dreams. To the impact goals can have to inspire hope and keep you going when the going is rough. Hold fast to your dreams!

What are your dreams for the next 10 years? Take some time this week to write out your list of what you want to achieve in the next 10 years.

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