You want a better life? Then get out of the rut that says, “The way it has been is the way it’s always going to be.” Dream. Set lofty goals. Climb that mountain!
Sure, pursuing goals is hard work. It’s risky too. After all your hard work, along with time, money, and emotional energy, you could fail. But winning isn’t winning unless losing is a possibility. It’s better to set high goals and not quite reach them than to set no goals and continue drifting downstream. I would rather pursue my wildest dreams and fail than not to try and always wonder what could have been. Many people in nursing homes wish they had risked more for their dreams. Imagine looking back from your eightieth birthday—what will you wish you would have done with your life?
Water boils at 212 degrees. Not 210, not even 211. How do you know if one more day, one more push could get you there? Thomas Edison said, “Many of life’s failures are people who didn’t realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
I also like what James Allen wrote: “Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind. If you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built. The greatest achievement was at first a dream. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.”
If you dream of a better world for yourself and those around you, dare to risk your life for those dreams. Someday you’ll be glad you did. And someday, others will thank you.
So write a list of things you can do today that will challenge you and stretch you a little closer to your dream. Experience the thrill of checking off one item at a time and completing the last item on the list before the end of the day. Then make a new list tomorrow and complete it.
Work hard, risk, weep, and pray.
Run strong and finish well today,
Phillip
PS This is my 200th post to this blog!
This is a great post. I really like “winning isn’t winning unless losing is a possibility”. That is something thta we seem to have forgotten in this country from not keeping score at kids’ sporting events to bailing out big corporations when they fail.
Dreaming and then following those dreams is hard work and it’s risky, as you say, but we shouldn’t be afraid to do it. Otherwise nothing ever changes.
I like that thought Tony. When sports teams, businesses, or churches aren’t doing any good, instead of propping them up, sometimes we need to let them die. Recessions force that process. But the government seems to be hindering. Also, parents sometimes subsidize their children’s poor work ethic. Instead, they need to let them fail. God lets us fail.
Thanks for posting your comment.
Phillip