The Dream Stealers

Today, I want to return to the movie I highlighted on Movie Monday, this week, “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” Certain aspects of the film have been on my mind all week. In particular, I want to talk about “dream stealers”.

I was reminded in the movie, how the dream stealers surround us, in a variety of guises.

The most prevalent dream stealers are those closest to us. Our friends and family who, out of love for us, seek to help us move in the direction they feel is best for us. They may encourage us to go to a certain college, consider a certain career, choose one group of friends over another, etc.

An example in the movie was the father not wanting his son to feel the pain of disappointment. This, well meaning man, had once pursued his dreams only to be denied. The pain he suffered, as a result of his failed attempts, was so great; he could not bear the thought of his son enduring similar grief.

His experience in life had taught him that “settling for” your station in life is far less hurtful than dealing with the certain sadness awaiting those who try to rise above their “lot.

How many of our dreams have been quashed by the well-meaning but misguided efforts of those around us, in the name of love?

Dreams stealers abound. It is easy to find them everywhere. Our church leaders, our schoolteachers, even our best friends all share their view of the world, from their own perspective. Unfortunately, their world-view may work to stifle our dreams and aspirations.

Positive words, alone, do not offer us much. “You can do anything you set your mind to” is a wonderful accolade. If, however, in the next breath we teach that in order to have security we must get a job with a good company and great benefits, are we teaching possibility thinking or are we dream stealing? It is so important for us to be possibility thinkers, if that is what we wish to teach.

These are examples of dreams stealers which are outside ourselves. The truth is, the greatest dreams stealers, we will ever encounter, are those which are inside of us.

If you can complete either of these sentences, “I could never ________________” (fill in the blank) or “I could never have _____________”, with anything that would make it a true statement for you, you have dream stealers programmed into the truth you “own’.

These hidden “dream stealers” are the most insidious of all. At least when a dream stealer is outside us, we can point our fingers and rebel against “their” truth; when they are running in our autonomic programs, we often do not even question them.

While it may be true that we accepted this programming as a result of a friend or family member, it is irrelevant how it came to be. In fact, it does not serve us to blame anything or anybody for this “truth” we now possess.

The bottom line is this. Unless we are willing to live a “settle for” life, we must identify and walk away from the dream stealers in our lives. The most powerful of these are lurking, like silent killers, in the programs that define who we are.

There is no advantage to being small. Any part of our make-up that seeks to keep us small is a dream stealer.

Dare to dream and then pursue your dreams with all the force you can muster. What is the worst that can happen?

You fail. So what?

Pick a new dream and go again.

You don’t fail until you agree to a “settle for” experience of this life. A piece of you dies with each “settle for” choice.

Be alive. Nothing worthwhile was ever obtained without risk.

This is who I am. I may reach the end of my life penniless. I doubt that will happen, but it could. But you know what? I will not reach it without having pursued my dreams. I vow to do that each and every day of my life.

If along the way, my dream changes, I too will change. It is the pursuit that brings me great joy. Life has taught me that sometimes the “obtaining” is anti-climatic.

It is my promise, to myself, to analyze every “settle for” area of my life. Into each of these I shall breathe more light and life. I shall examine each barrier I have accepted, and I will find a way to eradicate my blockages.

As my friend, I hope you point out to me any “settle for” terminology I use. As your friend, I pray I always keep a “possibility vision” for your life.

Thank you for saying “Yes”.