The Secret to Living Your Dream
The Unlived Life
You let go of your dreams, not because you are afraid of the dream.
The dream itself is beautiful.
Instead, you settle for less because of the work needed to attain it.
Dreams are not handed to you in a gift wrapped box, at least not ones that are worth pursuing.
You have to give yourself to the labor and sacrifice demanded by what you desire.
You have to do the work.
Every day.
But it’s not easy.
© Copyright Mike Quinn and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons License
You have to fall in love with the work itself.
You have to be committed to early mornings and late nights.
You have to be willing to suffer under the uncertainty of a thing hoped for.
You have to be willing to appear foolish.
You have to stand up under criticism, unfazed by naysayers.
You have to resist those that want to see you stop, even your family.
You have to believe that God is far greater than you. That he gave you this work to do, and he will give you the strength to do it.
I have a secret to tell you about doing the work.
Once you learn to show up and to dig in and labor, it becomes easier.
The burden of sacrifice lessesns.
Not because the work is any easier. The work itself will always be hard.
But because you stop missing all of the things you gave up.
You will discover that your work is much more fulfilling than avoiding the dream.
You will be full of life.
You will no longer need to distract yourself from the fact that you are not doing the work.
You pursue leisure because it is fun and you need it it. To laugh and smile is truly human.
But you also pursue pleasure to help you forget about the dreams you gave up on. The work you are not doing.
It becomes a drug to soothe your aching soul. To stop the bleeding.
To quiet the voices begging for more.
The need to be what we were created for.
When we become what God has created us to be, the work will be worth it.
There will still be times of rest and relaxation, but only as a pause in your true work. A chance to rebuild your energy to do more.
And because grace is, you can be that person. Through God’s unmerited love, you can find forgiveness and freedom to be.
Are you afraid of the work? Tell us how your work fills you with life in the comments.
