“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis
It has been said by the many self-improvement experts that one should “dream big” in order to move ahead.
Well enough I suppose but there is a lingering question that never seems to get answered: How does one “dream big”?
Now in defense of the self-improvement experts, they don’t know you or me personally so they must stay generic in their words. The same is true for this blog post. So with that in mind I am not going to address your dreams, but mine.
Selfish? Perhaps but necessary in order to provide you the value you need to “dream big”. I don’t know you, you don’t know me, yet I am an expert on me just as you are an expert on you. What I hope to do is inspire you, encourage you, and help you by sharing a little of me and my thought process so that you can see you are not alone in this arena of life.
As humans we all share some common traits as well as the fundamentals of life. These fundamentals encompass the components of shelter, food/water, clothing, and safety. There are others but these are the top elements of the human condition necessary for survival.
Once these basic elements are satisfied we move on to the other essentials necessary for human existence. One of these fundamentals is the need to excel, to succeed in or at something worthwhile.
This desire to excel in life is hardwired into our psyche. It has been designed, since the beginning of man, to be a natural part of our existence.
As mankind progressed through the ages this need to excel was attacked by others who deemed this desire a threat and was seen as a danger to the self-imposed authority figures of history. Hence this natural need to excel, to become more, needed to be controlled by those who called themselves kings and monarchs, and felt themselves superior to the “lower class” of humans.
After a while the “superior” humans convinced most people, either by persuasion or intimidation, that trying to better themselves was a grave mistake and a sin against God and their king.
Despite the hysteria, the demagoguery, and the lies about how evil success is, the impulse to excel still exist inside each of us. Our problem is, we don’t, and often refuse to, acknowledge it. We allow ourselves to be controlled by others instead of trying to determine what it is that makes us happy and fulfilled.
As individuals we allow, we chose to let others, who believe, really believe they are superior to everyone tell us how to live. So we whimper away convinced others are smarter than us and we surrender our future, our very lives to a lie. Why? Because it is much easier and simpler to believe the lie than it is to think for ourselves, to take responsibility for our own life.
I know this is true because I am living proof of this concept.
I’m 65 years old and in my youth I fell into the trap that others were far smarter than me. It is a lie I still have trouble overcoming to this day, this moment, as I write this. I call this element my anchor because it holds me back, keeps me in place, and will not allow me to grow.
Every time I think I have broken the chains of my anchor I discover I haven’t. I always sabotage myself, always deny myself the satisfaction of moving forward. In short I have a hard time of holding me responsible for my own actions.
Well if that is the case why am I writing this? Why does this blog exist? Why does my website exist? Basically because of one thing: My Dreams.
I am allowing my dreams to force me into action. To that end I know the chain of my anchor has stretched but has not broken. How do I know this? I use my bank account to keep track of my progress and according to my financial institution, there is no progress. Nothing of significant value has changed in the last 40 years. I am in the same financial situation now that I was in in 1975, 1980, 1990, 2000, today.
But one thing has changed, my desire to see my dream come true despite what my bank account says.
In the past all my dreams were merely wishes for I never put any real effort behind them to ensure they became reality. In my imagination I was the greatest thing since sliced bread. For I really believed the liberal drivel and lies. Not only did I believe it, I lived it.
Then something happened, two things actually, Jimmy Carter and November 2010.
Jimmy Carter is for another blog but in November of 2010 I had an awakening. I realized the error of my thinking. Oh yeah I had read the books and listened to the tapes for years, but it was only lip service. And lip service does not put bread on the table.
I have a good job and I pride myself on learning new things, especially in the field of technical writing. But I realized that year, 2010, my job only earned me a paycheck, it did not make me a life and I wanted a life. For the first time in my existence I wanted a life. So I set out to make one.
It was then I really discovered my anchor and how it holds me back. An anchor, created in my youth, by my teachers, members of my church, and my parents. The trouble is I don’t believe these influences of my youth really knew they were inspiring the anchor which I myself created. But I digress.
If I wanted a life I needed to change my thinking from wishing and hoping to solid desire. I knew that by changing my attitude and my thinking I could actually get a life. But alas it has not come to pass and I cannot blame anyone but myself.
Why? Because I was not in the desire mode but I stayed stuck in the wishing mode. I have not learned how to dream big. I still have the belief, a belief instilled in me during my youth 50+ years ago that having money is both evil and sinful. And of course as a youth I was terrified of going to hell because all the rich people went to hell. Just ask my teachers. And my teachers would not lie, or would they?
The way we talk to our children, what we tell them, what we want them to believe is a two-edge sword. One side cuts truth and power, to make a better life for ourselves and others. The other side cuts lies and deceit. To destroy hope and make our children believe there is no hope for them, now and in the future. Today we call these children “snowflakes” and “millennial’s”.
In my day we were called “the baby boom” generation. Many of us never experienced the joy and possibility of living a full and valid life. No, we settled for an existence. Today we are over 60, most of us still live from paycheck-to-paycheck. We have been told by the “experts” that having a life deprives someone else of life. We are told having money steals from someone else, depriving them having money. So the politicians take our money and gives it to someone who never works, is lazy, but votes a particular way, the liberal way.
Our dreams? Well our dreams die and we let them because if we don’t we will be called bigots, racists, and whatever other names anyone wants to call us.
And that becomes the chain which holds my anchor in place and keeps me bound in the existence of purgatory. Which is nothing short of hell, a hell on earth which we make for ourselves.
Am I mad? Yeah, I’m mad at myself for allowing me to be controlled by complete strangers. I am mad at myself for allowing me to fall into the trap of thinking that the supply of materials, minerals, and wealth is limited. I am mad at me because I knew better. Divine Providence created a great and powerful universe and during that creation He created the Earth. In doing so He ensured there would be enough for all.
But the politicians, dictators, kings, and thugs continue to tell us the lie that resources are finite and there is not enough to go around.
And I bought the lie, hook, line, and sinker. No more. For I have decided it is time for me to grow. Yeah I’m 65+ years old and still thinking like a child.
Time, past time, to break my anchor and dream big.
G.
