Dreaming isn’t hard. Pursuing one is.
A dream, at least a noble one, invariably involves something new. Realizing it requires redirection. These kinds of dreams, the ones that lift our spirits, seldom fall on our path. Instead, they provoke a discontinuity to our present rhythm.
At first, we love our dream. It’s delightful to imagine the change, or at least being in the changed state. We might envision leading that ministry we’ve toyed with in our imagination. Or we may see ourselves performing to packed theatre houses. Or, as I do, with a published book in hand.
And then it gets hard. Pursuing our dream requires that we wipe away the sleepy seeds of our dream state and give way to the harsh demands of our dream. These are seldom easily integrated into our daily routine. Were it so easy, they would have been done by now.
Something must go. Space must be made in order for our dream to take hold.
But there are no takers in our present routine begging to be let go. Whether we admit it or not, we like our little habits. They’ve been refined imperceptibly over a long time, perhaps a lifetime. When we rise. Where we eat. How we entertain ourselves. How we work.
And so, our dream becomes intrusive. Like the proverbial camel and the tent, our dream is not content to have its nose under the rainfly. It wants to occupy us fully.
It asks too much. I don’t have the time. I don’t have the money. I don’t have the support I need from others.
No. Dreaming isn’t hard. Pursuing one is.