Big Picture - Little Picture

I am a dreamer, it is in my blood. But I believe I do you a disservice by just asking you to dream. I think I was wrong when I ignited that fire. Because it is by God's spirit that we are inspired; it is God alone that our dreams are forged.

The problem lays not with the dream.

Sometimes I encounter people who feel they can't dream anymore. Whether exhausted by life, or lost in the past, the big picture is gone. But I don't feel that is the case with most of you. I believe that your dream is so big, you don't know where to start.

If this isn't for you, quit reading.

The journey of a thousand miles... begins with the first step. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you build a home? One brick at a time.

Keep that dream on the forefront. Explore it with the enthusiasm of first love; experience it over and over again. Let your own inspiration inspire you again and again. And then refuse to let it overwhelm you. Choose to be a hard worker.

I am a dreamer, the dream is never difficult for me. It is a vivid picture with all the passion in the world fueling my breathless emotions from moment to moment every day. I find myself on the brink of hopelessness occasionally too. Sometimes this dream is too big. I know that if I focus only on the dream, I'll never get there.

Thank God for my name. Since birth, my parents called me "industrious". Every time they called out to me to wash my hands, or get to bed, they called me hard-working. Every time a teacher told me I couldn't, they said "Industrious one, you'll never be a writer", my very name negated their curse. Everyone of you who have called me by name have encouraged me to work my hardest to accomplish my dreams.

It is a commitment I make to myself to pull my head from the dream to focus on what I can put my hands to right now. Every day, I read something. I journal, jot down my musings, focus my scattered energy on making sense of the puzzle pieces.

I encourage you to find balance between the dream and the work. The dream is the easy part, it's the work that is hard. Find joy in the work. Find pleasure in each step as it slowly makes its way to the goal. Patience is a virtue; practice it. Choose to savor the slow journey. The work is far more rewarding than the fast-food way we want to achieve success.

Be pleased with the required time and effort, it means that not everyone can reach your dream, only you can. If everyone could do it, it wouldn't be worth doing.

Marry your dream to hard work and birth out the best you possible. This is your opportunity. Faith without works is dead. Have faith and work at it. Now, what can you do today to start or continue your journey? Don't worry about tomorrow, it will be here before you know it. Tomorrow, you can decide what to do to continue, focus on today.