You probably already know there is no magic formula to make them a reality. Sorry, you won’t find it here either.
Everybody has dreams but very few have the perseverance to continue to pursue them. If your dream is worth it here is what I suggest you do.
Get up! Show up! Keep moving! Chase it! Pursue it!
If you think you can achieve your dream without doing any of those things then your dream is not big enough and you need to enlarge what it is that you are pursuing and dreaming of doing.
There are lots of dreams but fewer realized because we think the dream should happen in our timing.
The dream will happen when we’re ready and when the time is right. Our job is to be faithful to today by showing up, doing the work and keep running toward our dream.
The time will be right when the time is right. Keep moving.
Do you see that speck on my windshield inside the red circle? That bug speck could really grab my attention when I was driving if I let it. I couldn’t let it though. When I did focus on the little speck it took my eyes off of the road ahead which was very dangerous. Keeping my eyes on the road was what’s important. The big picture and the journey ahead not the messy stuff.
The same is true of our goals and our vision. If we stay focused on the little obstacles that may be in our way we will never get to the place we are trying to get to. We will become preoccupied with things that really don’t matter which can be very distracting and ultimately dangerous for us.
Don’t let yourself become panicked by something that wasn’t there a minute ago and can be wiped away so easily. Stay focused on your journey and your destination. Wipe off the messes that may be trying to distract you and focus on the right things. The things that really matter.
There is so much to unpack in these four lines. These four lines could easily be turned into a monster discussion, writing or podcast.
Today though think about your story, your dreams and how what has happened to you has lined up to put you on the path that you are walking today.
Trust that the things that you have experienced and what has happened to you have happened so that you can use them for good and to help you help others.
As you reflect on your dreams and your story you can live your life on purpose and with a purpose. You may still be working toward your dreams but your story, and your dreams, are being written day by day and moment by moment.
You have been given a sphere of influence that only you have and it is directly related to your dreams and your story. You are where you are right now for a reason doing what you are doing with the people who need you to do it. Be faithful to that today.
Your dreams and your story. Trust it and Live it.
Be Blessed!
Todd publishes a weekly newsletter every Thursday called “Five Moments Newsletter”.
On January 25, 2022 a man named Duane King passed away. Some reading this knew him, some didn’t, but we all could work to live and be more like him. After two days of processing the loss and encouraged by what he was now experiencing I wrote the following raw and unedited words very early in the morning of January 27. Here are those words, still raw and unedited. My prayer is that a thought here will prompt you to think of those who have left a legacy in your life and encourage you on your journey. Those that leave a legacy do not live their lives or leave this life without it making an impact.
I am thinking/reflecting about LEGACY and the life of Duane King. As I turn 60 years old in a few months what will mine be?
What is legacy?
Is it knowing in your heart that what other people see is who you really are at all times?
Is it giving yourself and abilities to something bigger than yourself? A God sized dream?
Is it giving to and and doing something that will outlast you?
I believe, check that, I know that Duane could answer yes to all of those questions and he would do so humbly and with a huge smile.
Can I? Am I?
Duane would have been the first non family member man to hold me after I was born. He and Peggy (his wife) loved me like their own. They made you feel like it.
The death of people that we know and love makes us (should make us) evaluate where we are personally and what we are doing with our life. The more I processed this and evaluated it the more I realize that the long term is truly what matters.
What legacy am I leaving and living?
People that leave a legacy don’t wake up and say “I’m making my legacy today.” They get up, love and serve those around them as Christ loves them. Legacy is not built as a goal it is built by how we live moment by moment, interaction by interaction, day by day. Legacy is not the goal. The goal is serving every day. The right way. God’s way. Duane wanted nothing more than to make sure you knew that God’s way was the right way.
Thank You Duane for smiling, laughing, always caring and showing us a better way through it all. You were a man and a leader of vision but always with incredible follow through. Your laugh and your love were contagious and warm. I was better after every interaction and conversation that I had with you.
Can/Will this be said of me?
Can/Will this be said of you?
Leave a legacy day by day.
Life moves on today and we move on honoring those who have helped us along the way. Honor them by how we live, love and serve today.
What if you helped just one person today? Just one.
What could the trickle down effect of that look like? What if the person that you helped turned around and helped one and then that one helped one more? You have now played a part in touching three people by taking the time to care for and help just one person.
Your impact could become endless and you may never know the lasting impact of one little helpful moment in your lifetime.
We can get caught up trying to change the world around us with dramatic and big impactful moments when all it may really take is taking the time to help one person. The dramatic and impactful moment may not be yours to have but it may happen down the line somewhere all because you took the time to help just one person.
So what if you helped just one person today? Just one. You may never know the overall impact of that interaction but that’s OK. Help the one. Be in that moment. The moment in front of you. It is the moment that is the most important.
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Made For This Moment 