I just got back from a bit of vacation in California and, yes, I spent some time in Disneyland. It amazed me how everyone embraced the “happiest place on earth” mentality, donning all versions of “ears”:
- traditional Mickey and Minnie ones
- Star Wars ones
- Princess ones — think Ariel, Cinderella, Snow White … pick a princess, any princess …
- Bride and groom ones
- Pluto, Goofy, Donald Duck, Chip and Dale ones
My husband Rob and I, along with our youngest daughter CJ and her BFF, rode all sorts of rides — and yes, the Dumbo ride is my favorite because it is the quintessential Disney ride. We watched parades, arriving at the park early and staying late.
And all the while I walked around the theme park — not wearing any “ears,” mind you — I thought of Walt Disney. Of how all of this — Disneyland and Disneyworld and all the other versions of the theme park around the world — was his dream. And how it all started with a rudimentary cartoon of a mouse.
We think of dreamers as being creatives. And yes, they often are. But dreams take an awful lot of courage, too.
Daring to dream is one thing. Daring to pursue a dream … well, that’s something else altogether. You have to keep dreaming despite setbacks and doubters and self-doubts (two very different things) and times when circumstances demand that your dream changes. The truth is, dreams have to change if we want to keep them alive. And being willing to allow our dreams to grow, to become something other than we first imagined? Well, that’s sometimes the bravest act of all.
In Your Words: What dream are you pursuing right now? How is that dream demanding that you be courageous? Or what dream in the past has challenged you to be brave? How?
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Comments 6
For 32 years I dreamed of getting a book published. Not one time did I ever seriously consider quitting or that it wouldn’t happen. I don’t know that it challenged me to be brave, but it did challenge me to be persistent. 🙂
Author
Pat: I think persistence is a quality of bravery. 🙂
Loved this post, Beth. I loved what you said here: “The truth is, dreams have to change if we want to keep them alive.”. It’s true. I believe God gives us dreams. We take what we understand about them, and we run with the vision. However, as we run up against obstacles, the dream shifts. As we continue pursuing it, we gradually see the vision of the dream change. Sometimes even dying for a time. The thing is, if it’s God’s dream for us, then we will see it realized . . . it may just look a little different than we originally thought it would.
You’ve got me thinking. Thank you for that.
Author
Jeanne: That makes two of us thinking today … 🙂
Had to think about this one.
Lately I have realized that my ‘dreams’ are actually paths or vehicles that are congruent with a spiritual goal, and learned that trying to explain that meets with puzzlement at best, and derision at worst.
Sometimes, too, I don’t understand them fully.
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