(Originally Posted 6/15 but even more meaningful as my sons and I are two years older as many of their dreams, old and new, are more defined and within reach)

6/22/15

“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it.  The time will pass anyway.” Earl Nightingale

The other thing is don’t give up on that dream because it takes too much effort, time, sacrifice, or it becomes too confusing.  It may not make sense until the dream is actually realized but the scope of who you are, and maybe never envisioned yourself being, is how you respond to the most difficult obstacles on the journey to any dreams fulfillment.  Oh and if there weren’t any struggles along the way, you may want to revisit the substance of that dream, it’s origin, and possibly how “ordinary” it actually may have been compared to the average aspirations of so many others.

I’m not saying there’s no value to those minor accomplishments that we achieve because everything that is performed for our betterment should be experienced with joy and and an equal sense of pride because it’s part of the act of living and should never be overlooked, downplayed, or diminished.  Just make sure that upon quiet reflection, the self-satisfaction is proportional to the quality of the achievement and not overinflated for elements of drama, vanity, ego, or delusion.

I’m not sure that “suffering” is the proper term for what we experience during those times when adversity really taxes the internal chemistry of self-confidence and optimism that generally reinforces our plans to obtain the grander goals we envision.  Maybe it’s more a matter of “enduring” that particular period of time but I guess the terminology is subjective as to how we interpret that experience but remember your character will be measured by the demonstration of your responses to the conditions that challenge us.  I think it’s important to understand and accept that adversity, by its nature, is meant to be difficult, deflating, and generally an exhaustive challenge to our resources and may sometimes feel like a cannibalization of the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical assets that we have stored for these occasions.

So when things aren’t working out or falling into place at the moment, don’t get frustrated with yourself because of any resulting feelings of failure nor should you get disappointed with how you interpret your life at that moment or for that matter, life in general, just because things haven’t worked out so far.  That just means that what you’re working towards just hasn’t happened YET and any other mindset is a defeatist and a counter-productive attitude opening the door to excuses, victimization, and martyrdom, and as Dico’s, you know how much tolerance for that is allowed!

So read the the following from the author of “Tom Sawyers Cabin” and I pray that it registers and makes the most logical sense.  “Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe.  This is along the lines of my previous discussion with Jason where I shared my outlook that with each new day ahead of us, there is still the potential that it could turn out to be the best day of our lives regardless of what it actually delivers and from that, hope and optimism should continue to be fed.  And so with dreams, they truly never fade until we give up on them because we surrender to the obstacles and difficulties that make them seem no longer obtainable.  Please, please, don’t let that happen!

Oftentimes you’ve come too far to give up on what you think is the final end of a story when it’s only the conclusion of another chapter with the next one waiting to be written.  Just summon a deeper faith in yourself and stay hopeful about life in all of it’s overall beauty, no matter how it temporarily presents itself, because overwhelmingly more often than not that’s all it is – temporary. Just keep trying along with working harder, better, and maybe a bit differently if needed (why pound your head against the same wall?) because if you seek to uncover whatever you are looking for, it just might find you first!

Just remember that the chances for our best dreams to evolve towards fruition never disappear as long as we continue to cross even the most unstable bridges that might cause those less committed to their destinations to turn back because of what they can’t see yet or even worse, because of what others have told them can’t be done.  From the likely to even the most remote chances that any of our dreams can come true will always stay alive if we just avoid succumbing to products of what is only passing despair.  It makes sense that we are better served by maintaining an underlying basis of hope in the thought that given enough time, effort, a little assistance when stubborn pride has failed (okay that applies to me), and maybe a little serendipity, what we thought was so far away was just out of view and on the verge of introduction into our lives.

So I will end with a quote that I hope you can incorporate into the better part of your character because first it makes sense and second, what’s the purpose of thinking otherwise?  “A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” – Oscar Wilde.  If that should be our “punishment” for the hope and optimism we strive to uphold as we proceed towards our dreams, then let us all be held accountable for such efforts because the dawn of what we envision is right there awaiting our discovery!