| We
all have hopes and dreams. We all go through times in our lives when
we come up with ideas of things that we would like to accomplish in
life, places we would like to be in the years ahead. It's a natural
human tendency, it seems, to come up with an ideal that we would
like to fulfill in our futures.
But what
happens when the years go by and those dreams never come to
fruition? What happens when we find ourselves, years later, in a
situation that's so far removed from our ideal that we can only
think that we've somehow failed, that we haven't accomplished our
life's desire? It can be a very devastating experience. A friend
wrote me the following lines:
"Well,
at 40 I'm losing hope that this dream will ever come true, and
sometimes I would get upset at God for not helping me to make this
happen. So this has been a great impediment in my living a full
life. Sometimes I'm unable to be happy in the moment because of
these unfulfilled dreams. It's those 'why couldn't it have
been?', 'why didn't it happen for me?' times that rob
me of my joy for today. And as much as I know and have read that
real peace is internal, I also know for me, that the environment
where I spend my time makes a difference."
I try to
focus on the fact that I trust God to put me where I'm most
effective, where I can do the most good, and where I can learn the
most. Getting through the hard times has been much more beneficial
to me in the long run than having an idyllic life would have been.
I've learned more about what I truly want out of life through the
painful experiences in places I didn't necessarily want to be than I
have in times when everything's been fine.
I suppose
that the bottom line is that all of our dreams are available to us
if we're willing to take risks and make sacrifices. Can't afford
that summer vacation that you dream of? Where can you make
sacrifices? Going out less? Renting fewer movies? Ordering fewer
pizzas? Do you wish you lived somewhere else? Find out what it would
take to move there, and go. The most important thing to consider,
though, is your current situation and where you see yourself going
if you stay in it. If you see yourself developing very little in or
getting very little from your current situation, maybe it's time you
examined those dreams of yours to see where they may be directing
you. We've been given dreams for a reason, and much of that reason
is to give us something to strive for.
Let your
heart guide you--if it tells you to stay, that's where you're
supposed to be, and make the most of it. If it tells you to go, then
take the risk and make the most of that. If faith in God is part of
your life, ask Him for guidance, then listen for the answer; and
whatever that answer may be, follow it, for you will be taken care
of. |
