In today’s world it’s so easy to get cynical and to follow the crowd in rolling your eyes to the oftentimes outlandish ridiculousness people succumb to in order to clicks and likes and get you in their funnel. The net effect is that we stop dreaming. Either we’re afraid of being seen as crazy or we have given into the inertia of our culture or simply paying the bills.
But the new year affords us an opportunity to dream a little. Let’s hit the pause button just long enough for this post to simply consider the importance of dreaming. Of course I am also a huge advocate of execution (a topic for another post on another day), but I think it’s vital for you and me to dream…
Now when I talk about dreaming, I’m merely talking about the importance of imagining a different world than the one we are currently in. Even more practically, dreaming encourages you to consider what you might look like if you were the person you were excited about being. What would your energy be when you come into a room? What would you sound like? What would you be doing in your free time? What hobby might you pick up? What might you be doing for employment? What might your relationships look like? Would you have kids? Would you be more patient? More kind? More excited about life?
Now get real specific? What would you be making annually? How would you be spending your Saturdays? What might you be an advocate for?
We entered a different world than the one we currently inhabit. Why? Because someone dared to dream. Someone dared to build something. Someone dreamed of a different world than the one they were in.
If we don’t dream, it means we have given into never changing. And that, my friends, means that you’re okay with the homelessness problem…the confusion on what it means to be human…the growing depression and suicide issues. “Now Matt, I’m not okay with that!” If you don’t spend time dreaming of a different world, then you are. The sheer fact that you’re not okay with it means that you are dreaming. That’s great. And that’s inherent to what it means to be made in God’s image. The world was created very good. But we all know something is horribly wrong. It’s embedded into our psyche and daily experience.
Today I want to encourage you to dream again. Before you were told you couldn’t do something. Before you were disappointed with failure. Before you were told to toe the line or color in the lines. Remember when you were wide-eyed and dreamed. What could you immediate world look like if it were just a little different?