Thursday 2 September 2010

Keep That Dream Alive


I was with some youths over the weekend to speak to them on the topic "Keep the Dream alive" and below is my message. Enjoy!

The problem with most of us is not that we don't dream, it is not that we don't have visions, goals or aspirations. The problem is that most of us have turned ourselves into human prisons, cold rooms or cemeteries. Locked up and buried within a lot of us are lofty dreams and visions that hold the key to our destinies and fulfillment. Don't be a prison where dreams are locked up, don't be a cold room where dreams are frozen or a cemetery where they are buried. Hope you know the world does not recognize or celebrate you for what you carry on your inside. No! nobody cares, nobody gives a damn! The world celebrate you for what you were able to give birth to. Yes! the world does not celebrate pregnancy, it celebrate delivery. Dreams, just like life, have phases. It has the conception, the incubation period (pregnancy), the delivery, the infancy, childhood and maturity. A dream, just like the human life, can die at any phase. Even if it has attained maturity, there is still the challenge of continuity. Have you not heard of companies or churches that went under after the death of their founders? Every dream leaves you with responsibilities. Wisdom demands that you know what stage your dream is at the moment. President Jonathan didn't fall from heaven a president. He was once a seed in a woman's womb. Even at birth, he was not born a president.

Until your become a servant to your dream, you can not attain it-Prince

Your first responsibility is to know what stage your dream is at the moment. Is it at its conception? That period when it is still an idea that's yet to take root. Still formless and shapeless in the womb of your imagination (or mind). Many a youth has been talked out of their dreams because they were too eager to discuss it at conception. Conception is not the best period to discuss your dream with others. It is easier to be convinced by others at this stage and by so, abort the dream. At conception, you need to spend time in meditation, prayers and waiting on the Lord until the dream crystallizes and takes root within you. You need to incubate that ''seed''! Do your home work first. Research it, get the requisite knowledge and information about it and let your soul be set aglow with it then you can go and discuss it with men of like passion. At this point, whoever does not speak the language of your dream, you easily turn away from him 'cos you have been sold out to it already. It is clear and well rooted in you!
Your next responsibility is to know how to keep it alive and nature it to the next phase.
Let me at this juncture declare that until you are willing to be a servant to your dream attaining it may be impossible. The Lord Jesus told us that it is enough that the servant be as his master. Are you willing to take instructions from your dreams? I know am talking to christian youths so, i don't expect our dreams to be such that runs at variance with the word of God. Let this statement sink into your head because everything you need to do to keep your dream alive is hinged on it: That until you become a servant to your dream, until you become a slave to it, until you are addicted and sold out to your dream, forget it! It will die! Addiction in itself is not bad and i have discovered that every great man is an addict. He has something he is sold out to, something for which he is willing to sacrifice anything for, something he is willing to die for. For what things were gain unto him, he counted but dung for the excellency of attaining his life's pursuit. Don't let that dream die. If it dies, you are dead even while you are still alive. It is important that you know what stage your dream is at the moment. Ask a mother. She monitors her baby right from conception until delivery and beyond. She knows that each stage comes with its challenges, demands and peculiarities. Her life is dictated by the stages, kind of. The way she behaves at the sixth month of her pregnancy is different from the way shes does at conception. Likewise, her behaviour at the ninth month is different from that at the sixth month. The way she also behaves when her date is due is also quite different and so on, even after delivery. Her life is dictated by the baby in the womb and she must comply if she intends to successfully bring forth. It dictates to her the kind of clothes and even shoes to wear. The kind of food to eat and a times even the places to go. She sacrifices her personal likes or preference in response to the demands of what she carries on her inside. Beloved, the same holds true, in principle, for your dreams if it must be kept alive. It will dictate what and how you spend you money, time and resources etc. Are you willing to adjust?

There are things to do to keep that dream alive and I have crystallize them into three: Desire, See and Pursue. Desire it, See it, and Pursue it.

1) Desire it:
Desire is the fuel that powers the engine of your dream. You must have a strong desire to see your dream come true. Without a strong desire, fulfilling your dream becomes a burden. Nothing great has ever been achieved without a strong desire. I don't mean wish. I am talking about passion. I am talking about that inner drive that keeps you undaunted in the face of challenges. That inner force that pushes you on no matter how many times you may have failed. Instead of discouragement in the face of failures, what you get is a renewed vigor urging you never to give up, telling you it is possible. I read of the story of a lady called Mme who, in pursuit of her passion for music, enrolled for a course in music. Her music instructor after listening to her, advised her to go buy a sewing machine and pursue a career in fashion designing 'cos she wasn't going to make a good singer. The story had it that this lady in spite of this "professional" advise from a man in the know, went ahead to become a renowned singer. Another story was told of a trainee keyboardist whose instructor told him to forget about mastering the keys because he lacked the right size of fingers. Hmm! It was like telling the man that God didn't intend him to master the keyboard or like we would say, "it is not his calling". But this guy, fueled by passion, ignored this advise and went ahead to become a master of the art. You must have a desire that is strong enough to sustain your dream because when the road gets tougher, it is your passion that will drive you on. We often hear things like determination, persistence or resilience. But the truth is, these qualities are products of a strong desire for something. Many a youth gives up easily because their desire isn't strong enough. In fact most them either are pursuing their parents' desire for them or mistake wish for desire. Desire is obsessional! Most times, its natural but can be fired up. The Bible in Matthew 5:6 says, "Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled". This is a principle and if you substitute your dream for righteousness, the result will be the same-you will have it. What you strongly desire, you attract. You must learn to feed your desire.

To be continued....

2 comments:

  1. I must say this is one of the best of your post. Personally I've had lots of dreams that never came to be. I noticed each time I discuss my dreams at the 'conception stage', somehow the plan never materializes. Now I understand why.
    I can't wait to read the concluding part of the topic.
    Keep up the good work!

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  2. @John: Thanks a million! What i said to others, i say also to myself. May God help us!

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