Dream Big Aug 18th 2013

Someone asked me not too long ago what I would do for a living if I could choose. Well, sad to say, it isn't being a meat clerk. Don't get me wrong, I consider my job to be caring for my family and I love that job. The meat clerk thing is what makes it possible. I don't mind sweating and getting my hands dirty for my family. I've been in a position (more than once) when I didn't have that privilege, so I don't complain. However, given the choice I would certainly write for a living. But anyone who knows me knows that. Writing for me has always been a window to places I could never go. So I am finally taking serious steps in my life to make something productive of that writing. To that end, I am writing an original novel, and a friend is not only acting as an editor, but is also going to help me publish. For the first time. I'm very excited to be taking concrete steps to make a life-long dream come true. 

So, why have I bothered you with my story? Because I want to talk about your dreams for your life. Remember that we aren't just bags of flesh and water and chemicals. Yoda said it very well. Luminous beings are we! We have dreams and hopes. We have an undefinable spirit. We can love. We can exceed the sum of our parts. We can create. It doesn't really matter what our dreams are. They might be writing or acting or science related or athletic in nature. What does matter is that we pursue them. If you're going to dream big (and what's the point of not dreaming big?), do your homework. There's a good chance someone has done something similar. Use their learning experience to help guide you. That isn't a shortcut. It's working smart to complement working hard. Also remember that big dreams, like big journeys take planning and effort and patience. There will be those who try to discourage you, usually because they are secretly jealous that they aren't doing it. There will also be times when things just don't seem to be happening. Times when you feel like giving up, because of a lack of progress or because the road ahead looks too long and the obstacles too impossible. Just remember that you have a spark that cannot be defined by statistics or by others' jealousies. You are smart and strong, and you have a purpose in life and the strength and desire to achieve it. 

According to my faith, we are given dreams and desires by God that we are equipped to achieve. If you want to be an actor or a writer or an astrophysicist, then you have within you all of the talent and drive to get you there. You simply have to do the hard work. If it is truly your heart's desire, then never worry that you can't make it. 

Think about Sir Edmund Hillary climbing Mount Everest. He had to climb higher than anyone else. It would have been a harder and longer climb than anyone else had ever done. He faced hardships that nobody else ever had. He may have even thought along the way that he couldn't finish, but he did. Your dream is your own Mount Everest. It is huge and awe-inspiring, but it is also nothing more than a journey that with faith and strength and knowledge you are well-equipped to conquer. You are already a hero. Show the rest of us.

I'd just like to add this note about the actress Lisa Robin Kelly, who passed away a few days ago at the age of 43. It is easy to look at this, and similar incidents as nothing but the rich stars getting hooked on drugs or alcohol. Websites like TMZ have made an industry of catching these people in their worst moments and shining a bright light on them. I mean, would there even be a  TMZ if it weren't for Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan? But here's the thing. They are people, like you and me. They have fears and hopes and dreams. As well as families and loved ones. They also have weaknesses, just like all of us. They are all of us. Part of the human family. They are simply people who have, like you do, and like I do, chinks in our armor. Weaknesses. We would do better to turn off TMZ and the entertainment shows and gossip mills and paparazzi and remember that in a sense we've lost a sister who, for all of her strengths and weaknesses and fame was really just a family member who was struck by tragedy and couldn't handle her life. Think about her (and others, like Cory Monteith) like they were our own family. And there but for the grace of God go all of us.