"I Believe I Can Fly"
Do you ever feel like you're trapped in a hopelessly ordinary life? The tedium of your day to day responsibilities weighs you down like a millstone around your neck when you think of the dreams and passions you had in your youth. Maybe you dreamed of being a social activist, a political leader, a missionary, or a well-known writer, and now you're just an average Joe with an average job and a family to take care of. With all the routine busyness of everyday life, you've stopped pursuing or even thinking much about your grand dreams.
Maybe you do still cherish some secret passions, but have stopped believing that you will ever achieve anything. You doodle endlessly in the margins of your notebook at staff meetings, but don't take the idea of drawing for a living seriously. You send money to World Vision, but never go yourself to see, hear, touch the people in desperate need. You write songs that you might share with a few friends, but don't take the leap of pursuing a record deal. Do we listen to the voices who tell us that it's easy to succeed at the ordinary, and impossible to succeed at the extraordinary? It's easy to fall into this ordinary, everyday hopelessness.
DON'T.
Contrary to the messages of mainstream society, extraordinary individuals are not merely an elite few. Every person is, in some way, extraordinary. I don't mean that in a trite "everyone is special" (translation: no one is special) kind of way. I'm sorry, but not everyone is smart. Not everyone is good looking. Not everyone is even a good person. But each and every person has a gift. And you may not believe this, but I believe each person was created for a purpose. A unique gift to fulfil a unique purpose, in your own place and time.
If you don't already know what your gift is, you need to take some time to get to know yourself better. If you have some good friends, ask them what gift they see in you. A lot of us, though, know what our gift is - what we need to do is believe that it was given to us for a reason, and then intentionally find a way to really use it. Get your gift out there in such a way that it touches as many people as you possibly can. Do yourself a favour and stop setting mental limits on what you can achieve.
Think like a 3 year old. A 3 year old doesn't know about the law of gravity - he thinks that with the right cape he can jump off a chair and fly. Okay, you will say, but a 3 year old can't really fly. That's true, but according to the laws of physics, neither can a bumblebee...and yet it does. So don't assume it can't be done, just go for it. I can't guarantee that you won't get some bumps and bruises, you probably will. But wouldn't you rather take a few scrapes and find yourself achieving things you thought were impossible, than to take the safe and ordinary life and never accomplish much?
Maybe you do still cherish some secret passions, but have stopped believing that you will ever achieve anything. You doodle endlessly in the margins of your notebook at staff meetings, but don't take the idea of drawing for a living seriously. You send money to World Vision, but never go yourself to see, hear, touch the people in desperate need. You write songs that you might share with a few friends, but don't take the leap of pursuing a record deal. Do we listen to the voices who tell us that it's easy to succeed at the ordinary, and impossible to succeed at the extraordinary? It's easy to fall into this ordinary, everyday hopelessness.
DON'T.
Contrary to the messages of mainstream society, extraordinary individuals are not merely an elite few. Every person is, in some way, extraordinary. I don't mean that in a trite "everyone is special" (translation: no one is special) kind of way. I'm sorry, but not everyone is smart. Not everyone is good looking. Not everyone is even a good person. But each and every person has a gift. And you may not believe this, but I believe each person was created for a purpose. A unique gift to fulfil a unique purpose, in your own place and time.
If you don't already know what your gift is, you need to take some time to get to know yourself better. If you have some good friends, ask them what gift they see in you. A lot of us, though, know what our gift is - what we need to do is believe that it was given to us for a reason, and then intentionally find a way to really use it. Get your gift out there in such a way that it touches as many people as you possibly can. Do yourself a favour and stop setting mental limits on what you can achieve.
Think like a 3 year old. A 3 year old doesn't know about the law of gravity - he thinks that with the right cape he can jump off a chair and fly. Okay, you will say, but a 3 year old can't really fly. That's true, but according to the laws of physics, neither can a bumblebee...and yet it does. So don't assume it can't be done, just go for it. I can't guarantee that you won't get some bumps and bruises, you probably will. But wouldn't you rather take a few scrapes and find yourself achieving things you thought were impossible, than to take the safe and ordinary life and never accomplish much?
It may be easier to believe you can fly (so to speak) if you first believe that your ordinary life is not tedious, but instead make the most of those ordinary moments.
ReplyDeleteI'm not arguing with that at all, and I think that's a topic for a whole other post. But the reality is that the totally average quality of everyday life can be discouraging and disillusioning for those of us who had very different dreams and passions. My point is that no matter how different your life looks from how you envisioned it, you can keep your passions alive, and keep going for them with everything you've got. Believe in the seemingly impossible.
ReplyDeleteOff topic, but I see that you're from Brighton... not sure how small town... I usually just drive by, and only stopped in once... but what are the chances that you've run into my friend Joy there? Mom of two young ones, husband is with Environment Canada... a musical believing bunch... ??? Ring a bell? Had to ask...
ReplyDelete