Turn It Around…

  
When we were in grade school, our teachers asked us a question that caused us to dream. It was a very simple question that caused our brain to fire off the most unimaginable thing possible. What was the question?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Doctor. Lawyer. Singer. Dancer. Veterinarian. Movie Star. Police Officer. Fire Fighter. President. Batman. 

The possibilities are limitless when we dare to dream. And the beauty in that moment… Nobody tells us we can’t. Nobody laughs at our dream. I literally thought Daniel would grow up to be Batman… Because that’s what he said he wanted to be. In that moment… We believed what we were saying and so did others. 

But something happens as we grow older. We stop dreaming. And I think that may be the most devistating part of our lives. 

Somewhere along the way we realize that our grades may not be good enough to get us into Medical Or Law School. So the dream ends. Or… We took a test to get into the Police Academy and we didn’t pass… So it’s over. We had a bad audition that caused us to stop trying to make it big on Broadway. And the worst of all… We find out Batman is not real! What?!?!

What happens at this point in our lives is awful… We settle! We settle for something we know we can become rather than continuing to pursue of dreams. 

Simply put… We play it safe. We play it safe because our dreams seem to far off. There is no chance of becoming who we always dreamed of being. 

I love taking binoculars to the beach and trying to find dolphins playing of fish jumping. I’m sure you do as well. But have you ever looked through the wrong end of a pair of binoculars? Everything seems much further away than they really are. You can’t really see what it was you were looking for. It’s in the distance. 

But… If you use them the way they were designed to be used… Everything seems closer than they really are. All seems within reach. Like you could reach out and grab it. 

When we were kids… We were looking at our dreams through the correct end of the binoculars. The likelihood of us becoming what we wanted to be seemed real. It was within our reach… We just needed to go get it. 

But as we grew older… We turned those binoculars around and saw our dreams fading in the distance. Getting further and further away until there was nothing left. 

That’s not the life we were designed to live! The safe life is a life without adventures. It’s a life with no risk. Safe is the place our dreams go to die. Safe is so… Safe. 

It’s time for you to turn your binoculars around again. Dream again. Set your sights on  what and who you want to be. Keep that in clear focus in front of you. Do everything in your power to move towards that dream. 

Sure you may fail. It’s part of the journey. It’s how you learn. But failure doesn’t mean the dream is over. You must continue to press on. 

So I’ll ask you the question we were all asked as kids…

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Be honest here… Don’t answer safe. Now whatever that answer is… GO FOR IT!

It’s much closer than you think!

Essex