Question: Do you remember how as a child the world was your playground? I mean, anything you wanted to be in the future was possible, right? Fear was not part of your vocabulary, as far as your future was concerned. Imagination was your best friend. Did you want to be a doctor? Or a teacher? An author? Or the President? Do you remember boldly saying to yourself “I will be/do ____ when I grow up”?
What happened to young you? Life happened. Why is it that the older we become, the “less bolder” we become (please don’t report me to the grammar police). The more “mature” we get, the less likely we are to take risks and try some things, even things that we are passionate about. You know, the other day I had to remind myself not to spoil it for my kids when they tell me all the things they plan to become when they grow up (one wants to be an astronaut, engineer, veterinarian, firefighter, basketball star all at the same time). Oh, to be able to dream like a child again!
Let’s do it! Why not? Let’s give ourselves permission to start dreaming again. Will you do it with me? Let’s write down some things we want to be when we “grow up”. You can send them to me if you want, or you can write them down privately. But write them down. Write the vision make it plain, so that he that reads it may run. Write it and read it and run with it. What would you allow yourself to dream up, if you allowed yourself to believe that God has given you a blank check and said “Go for it”? Write that down. What big idea did you recently think of, only to dismiss it with a “that’s not possible” or an “I’m too old” shrug? Write that down too.
Don’t get me wrong, I know that you’ve already accomplished a lot in life. But I’m talking about those other dreams, the ones that scare you and make your heart skip a beat. Yep, write them down. As long as you are alive, you still have lots you can and should do.
Do you know the wealthiest place in the world, according to the late Dr. Myles Munroe? He said “the wealthiest places in the world are not gold mines, oil fields, diamond mines or banks. The wealthiest place is the cemetery”. Why? Because it’s the cemetery that houses “companies that were never started, masterpieces never painted…in the cemetery there is buried the greatest treasure of untapped potential. There is a treasure within you that must come out. Don’t go to the grave with your treasure still within YOU.”
So today I urge you (and I’m also talking to the face staring back at me in the mirror) please don’t rob this world (or yourself!) of the richness inside of you. I know it’s easier said than done, but I also know that there are people needing what only you can offer. So let’s do this thing together. Let’s get to the top of our respective mountains together. Have you heard that African proverb that says “if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together”? Let’s go together.
