Working Dreams

For a dream cometh through a multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.  Ecclesiastes 5:3

Daydreaming is so fun! Daydreams can encourage, uplift, and entertain. You can do anything well in a daydream. (See, that's the good side of that overactive imagination!) But daydreams don't really DO anything. They don't change your schedule. They don't put words on a page. They don't put in practice time on your instrument. They don't read the books. They don't try new cooking techniques. They don't master any skills. 

Most of us stop at the daydreaming. We don't go on to actually do what it will take to get us where we would like to be.  There are several reasons why we stop at daydreaming. 

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1. Change is uncomfortable. Growth is uncomfortable. You will mess up. You might fail. You might embarrass yourself. I would rather have temporary periods of mistakes than get to the end of my life and realize I could have done more. Realize that I wanted to do more but I took myself too seriously. 

2. Change is hard work. It's easiest to not do anything. Not memorize the Bible. Not practice the piano. Not write the blog post.  Mastering a new skill is much harder than just daydreaming about it. You'll have to practice and try again. Try again and practice some more. Get frustrated and keep on trying. It's much easier to watch tv or only do what you are good at. 

3. Change is intimidating. No matter how good you get someone else is always better. Don't compare yourself to other people. Be the best God would have you to be. Let Him sort out how He wants to use you. 

4. Change brings criticism. People who are doing something- anything- are always criticized. Usually by people who are doing nothing. Even the "best" in a field receives criticism. Find what God wants you to do and do it to please Him. If pleasing God is your motivation it will be easier to ignore what others think. 

The journey toward achieving a goal starts with baby steps. One page of music theory a day. Ten minutes of writing here. Three miles run in the morning. One new meal a week. Twenty  minutes taking pictures during naptime.  Consistent sprinting work is more productive than occasional marathons. Find what time you can. Work as hard as you can. Then stop and do the next thing. Maybe it doesn't seem much different today than yesterday, but give it a year. You'll make serious headway with 30 minutes a day for 365 days. 

That's 182.5 hours a year in just thirty minutes a day. 

That's four and a half 40 hour weeks. 

Over a month of working a full-time job toward your dream. 

Look at your end goal. I don't always feel like reading and playing and instructing my children. But I know what I want them to remember about living here, growing here. So I pray and do my part.  I don't always feel like putting in my music theory and technique work during quiet time, but I know what I want to achieve in the next month, the next year. 

The goal in life is not to do as little as possible. (Don't take a poll about that in Wal-Mart.) God wants us to work hard at whatever He gives us to do.  So sure, daydream. Figure out what your end goals are. But then...

Get to work. 

"A year from now you'll wish you had started today."