The reality of dreaming...

I learn some of the most valuable lessons about leadership, life, and purpose when I am hanging out with my kids.

While reading with my son last night, a character in the book The Silver Chair said something that really got me to thinking about our lives and how we allow fear and the system of the status quo to control our actions. In this scene, a witch was attempting to convince the heroic few that stood in opposition of the multitudes, that all that they had ever lived for, all that he had ever loved, and all that they truly believed in was really only a lie. Several of the characters were dissuaded from believing what they knew in their hearts to be true. However, one character, Puddleglum, made a speech saying that he would rather live in a world that was full of good and light, even if it were not real, than to live in the witch's dark world of reality.

The system of the status quo does this all of the time. It keeps us 'grounded' and focused on 'the truth'. It attempts to open the eyes of dreamers and visionaries in an effort to dissuade them from desiring something more. Sadly, too many of us fall victim to this attack on what we believe is real and right. We become convinced that our biggest and most audacious dreams are simply that; Dreams that we tell ourselves to get through the darkness of the reality that we live in. The status quo seeks to dissuade us from dreaming, even when the dream is more real to us than the system that we are presented with, because it threatens the foundation of the status quo.

You must believe that the dreams and vision that you have are real. There is more beauty and passion in the life that the status quo tells us is non-existent than there is in the reality that they cling so tightly to. Dream big, put action behind your mission, and live boldly, accepting the reality and responsibility of the life that you have been uniquely designed for.

As for me, I would rather live in a world of possibility than to accept the 'truth' that the status quo offers.