As a dreamer/visionary, it is easy for me to get so lost in the dream that I never see it come to pass.
A dream without action is a fantasy. Equally important to action is recognizing that dreams never travel alone. It takes more than your own efforts or hopes to bring a dream to fruition. I have never seen a dream come to pass that did not captivate other people’s hearts. By inviting others to journey with you, the dream’s chance of becoming reality is exponentially increased. Yes, there is risk in doing this because a dream is very personal and could be rejected.
I remember many times when people, especially family, laughed at my ideas. I would laugh along with them, but on the inside, I was hurt. This developed a fear of failure in my heart and held me back from achieving my dreams. This only confirmed that I was a failure.
Then I had a revelation. I realized that I would not even have had the dream if God had not put it in me, and that He most likely placed the same dream in another’s heart. Right from the first thought, I realized that the dream never travelled alone. There were at least two people captivated by the same vision. Two would be capable of doing much more than I could ever imagine doing by myself. I decided I would rather try and fail, than simply let the dreams in my heart die.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick,” and I was done living with a sick heart. When I realized I was never alone in my dreams, it occurred to me that if I increased the number of people on the journey, the dream would grow and have a much better chance at becoming reality. The key was to share it with like-minded people who perhaps had the same dream in their hearts. There’s an old saying that “teamwork makes the dream work.” This so true! The problem would be in sharing the dream with the wrong people, those who did not have the same dream. I began to ask God to put kindred spirits in my path.
He did, and soon my dream grew to include facilitating the dream in others. How exciting it is to be a catalyst for people to discover, be inspired and live out their own dreams. This is why I appreciate Kingdom Sparks so much. That is also their mission.
Here is a simple formula to get you started:
Acknowledge the dream. Give yourself permission to believe that you could have a dream. If it is bigger than you, GOOD! Then you know it is a dream that is not travelling alone.
Tell someone. Someone who is like-minded, who also has a dream. Telling just anyone or everyone opens the door to critics, and you will become discouraged.
Set goals and take a step. Every dream is achieved by setting goals and taking simple steps to reach them. The 1% increase concept says to move 1% at a time toward your goal, building on each small victory.
Taking these three steps will start you on your journey toward seeing your dreams become reality, because Dreams Never Travel Alone.
Mark Gordon – Relationship Development Specialist