Pure Innocence

When you were younger, what did you always want to be when you grew up?  It’s okay, no one will make fun of you for bringing up your old childhood dreams… I won’t have any of that on my blog.

For me, I always wanted to be a detective, or an FBI agent, I was always drawn to puzzles and mysteries… some days I wanted to be a pro-athlete, soccer mostly… other times when I felt a little more adventurous I dreamt of being Indiana Jones, a Ninja Turtle, or even Peter Parker (That is Spiderman for you old folks)…  But that was back in the day when we were able to dream, encouraged to dream.  Now, I have this feeling that I’m too old to dream… that I have to think “rationally” and refrain from stirring emotions, why?

Why is it that as adults we no longer dream?  Where has our “pure innocence” gone?  

I know I’m not the only one, but somewhere in this adult transformation I learned to be rational, limited, and boring.  Every time we dream our ideas our challenged by our friends, family, and even ourselves. 

What happened to dreaming big?  What happened to being the change we wish to see in the world?  Are we really that okay with our comfortable lives that we’ve lost all reason to dream big, and dream often? 

It’s okay; I’m not going to be entirely pessimistic tonight. In fact, I do believe that adults are still capable of dreaming, and dreaming big.  We may not dream in the same elaborate fashion that we used to when we were young, but we still wish to see change in the world… and we still feel strong emotions toward these changes. 

If you are feeling strong emotions, it’s my inclination to say that those are feelings that are not meant to be ignored.  Instead, those feelings should receive extra close attention.  When God calls us to move we will feel that desire to move strongly.  And knowing that these emotions were placed in your heart by God requires action, no more waiting for the next person…

It’s time to dream again, and it’s time to take action.  The first steps might seem so insignificant, and sometimes it is so hard to simply get started, but getting started is the part where people fail far to often.

The bottom line:  Dream big…   Dream often…  Get started....

(Credit to Grant for reminding me to “dream often”, props roommate.)