Before eight year’s old, I’m not sure I had a real “dream” of what I wanted to be when I grew up. However, at eight, after having watched Chicago Cubs baseball games with my grandfather in the summers, I knew. With the roaring AC inside, I would go outside to practice what I saw on television with what I had around me; collecting hundreds of rocks as baseballs with targets of large tree limbs and broom sticks used as a bat.
Living in Atlanta, the home of the Civil Rights Movement and being educated in the same public school system, I remember clearly as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used the word “dream” in his famous I Have a Dream speech quoted often to this day. Dr. King had a dream of freedom for all Black Americans, the end of segregation and discrimination. I had a dream of playing for the Chicago Cubs. Why are dreams important and what holds us back from really dreaming about the future, today?
To Share our Dreams or not…
As an eight year old Black boy being raised in the inner city of Atlanta, I openly and unapologetically told people that I wanted to play Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs. Many adults wanted a different future for me, an engineer, doctor or lawyer. This created conflict as our expectations were different. Dr. King’s dream of ending discrimination and segregation to set Black Americans truly free also created conflict. He believed so much in his dream, he paid for it with his life. If he hadn’t shared his dream, it would not become a reality and neither would mine.
Why do we hesitate to dream?
Dreams can be big, bigger than we are. They can be intimidating, overwhelming which makes us want to shy away before we even get started. Dreamers encounter naysayers, obstacles and conflict as evidenced by my experience and Dr. King’s. I suggest, any dreamer who dares to dream and implement can expect to encounter the same. Dreams can be costly, expose us and require sacrifice. So why bother?
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| Dr. King along with Jackie Robinson |
All of us have the ability to dream; those who can tout significant achievements or those with disadvantageous circumstances. As leaders in our community, how do we foster the dreams of those most in need? How can we be dream enhancers instead of dream stealers for our disadvantaged youth? How can we show them what is possible?
• Dare to dream, because it takes courage
• Recognize that when you dream, you will encounter obstacles
• Enlist others to help you reach your dream, you were not designed to go it alone
• Dream Big – because when you do, big things happen.
I’m great at what I do as a coach and a mentor because it’s my calling from God and I am responding to the call. I know it’s my calling because of the GREAT EIGHT™.
What is your calling? Ask yourself these GREAT EIGHT™ questions daily for just 30 days to find out.
Remember – significance starts with a dream. Become significant – start dreaming.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” http://bible.com/59/rom.8.28.esv