I See Dead People

Dreams. These are things we look forward to in the future. Things we hope for. They serve as the picture of where we hope to be in the future, what we hope to achieve. Our destinations along the path of life. And if dreams are our destinations along this path, then faith is what drives our desire to walk this path, staying steadfast along the way till we reach our dreams.

Now faith is about belief, belief on two main fronts. First of course is our faith in God and His ability to provide sufficient grace and direction to see us through to our destinations. Second is our faith in ourselves. Faith, not just in our ability to reach our intended goals but in our responsibility to walk that path and achieve those dreams. See, it’s not just about how much we want it or if we’re able to achieve it, or if God is on our side. You need to want it enough to pursue it whole heartedly in order to realize your aspirations. But that’s going a little too deep too soon.

Let’s double back a bit to the topic of dreams and the faith needed to reach them. You’ll agree that they’re integral to a life of fulfillment, dreams being definite benchmarks on the road to destiny and faith giving substance to the hope that we will achieve those dreams and that destiny that fulfills us. They give meaning to our lives, giving us reasons to keep moving on, progressing, and making advances in our various spheres of existence. But what happens when one of these is missing? Say, a person has dreams of a better future but lacks the faith or will to power him or herself to their achievement? Or say, one has the faith and drive but no dream to focus these energies on or even give direction to? We find both of these categories of people everywhere, in every sphere of life. We meet them at work, sit beside them in church, we might even be living with some of them at home. Yes, there may even be one of them looking back at you from the other side of the mirror! So how do you characterize these people? 

It’s quite simple. 

Those that belong to the first class (those that have dreams but no faith or drive to achieve them) will usually have enough reasons not to step out and dare to follow their dreams. You’ll find them easily swayed by the opinions of others about taking chances and stepping out of the mould. They won’t often voice out their own aspirations, rather choosing to laud, analyze or criticize the exploits of others. When they do speak of their own personal aspirations you can be sure they’ll put in a good deal of defense of their non-pursuance of the said dreams alongside. All in all, this class eventually blend in with the circus of normal life (I call it a half-life), hiding behind the arguments of incongruous timing, irrationality of their ambitions of the need to take things a step at a time (a clever way of indefinitely putting off the first step).

Those that belong to the other class (those with the drive and faith but no tangible dream or aspiration to direct it at) are an equally ubiquitous group. They’ll usually be the ones that display high levels of resourcefulness, willing to take on any task they’re given regardless of the rationality, reasonability or reward it earns them. They aren’t necessarily enthusiastic about or even contented with what they do but they keep doing it, at least until fate or chance smiles on them with an opportunity to change their situation (say a better paying job, a relocation, pay rise, …even a jackpot!) they don’t necessarily improve their situations, they just change them, and that’s usually okay for such people. If you’ve ever asked them why they choose to stay in such ruts, why they don’t make a deliberate attempt to get out and better their lots, you’ll probably get answers like: ‘this is better than nothing’, ‘I’m happy here like this’, ‘I’m taking my time, waiting for the right opportunity’, ‘I haven’t found a better place yet, when I do , I’ll make the change’, and so on. It all boils down to the same reason: they have the will to change, the drive to make a difference, but they really don’t have a clear cut direction or goal on which to direct that drive, there’s no definite, well thought out dream or plan on which to base that desire for change. And so, with no clear cut destination in mind, they settle (however restlessly) in whatever haven they find themselves locked in. You’ll most often find them ensconced in society’s expectations and definitions of success and fulfillment, choosing to plough their energy and resources into other people’s borrowed dreams. Those that find themselves in corporate settings usually draw their motivation from and fulfillment from the promise of the future attainment of the pinnacle of some corporate ladder.

What a way to go eh?

So, ...which are you?

-K-Black

Life, A definition and charge

Life is about us trying to sort through and make sense of alot of things at the same time, with the hope that our aspirations find fulfillment within definite time frames and our fulfillment manifests in a realm of fruitfull satisfaction. You are to fill your place in time and space as either a pioneer of new and better things, or as a facilitator of other people's dreams. It behoves on us therefore, to make every moment of our lives count for the betterment of our world, giving of ourselves a lasting offering that generations to come will speak of with strong reverence. Hopefully, they may find these footprints we leave behind relevant enough for them to follow in resolute ambition and filled with enough truth to likewise impact their world, leaving it an equally better place for those after them.

Walk thus in awareness of the high expectations the world holds you to. Whether you are aware of it or not, you stand on life's stage, a player of inestimable value, your every action measured up against the potential that lies abundantly in you. Always remember too, that your actions, though written in the shifting sands of time, leave an indelible mark on your surroundings, branding lives around you and etching your legacy on the stone of history.

On Dreams And Their Timings...

Every story needs a beginning. Every great vision needs a spark. Every major movement needs a starting point. The journey of a thousand miles? Yes it had to start from a single solitary step. So also, every dream needs to be birthed. Now let's get this clear, it needs to be birthed. This is where so many of us miss out on the fundamentals in the pursuit of destiny. The birth of dreams is similar to the birth of any other creature. So what's that similarity? It's size, stature. See, a dream born is similar to a baby born in that both are small, both are dependent on the parent or ‘birther’ for support, attention, nourishment and grooming. And both, given sufficient amounts of these, have the propensity to grow big and strong, to mature and fully become what they were meant to be from the moment they were conceived. Yes, the baby is just a little, tiny man or woman and just as every human being (short of Adam & Eve that is) started out as a baby, so every dream has to begin in such a small, delicate, often powerless and inconsequential form.

Now where am I heading with all this? Simply this: More often than not, dreams are meant to start small. Unfortunately, I've come across too many people who are waiting for things to be 'right' before they launch out. Alot of them're still waiting...

Let's be frank now. Perfect situations and 'seasons for dreams' rarely happen. It's very unlikely that you'll find enough money and enough time and enough people to support you and a conducive environment to boot all at the same time! Uh uh, hardly likely. In fact, in many cases, waiting for such perfect situations might be detrimental to the survival of your dream. Imagine a pregnant mother waiting for the labour pains to stop before she starts pushing! Needless to say, someone’s going to die!

Anyway, back to the issue ...what was it again? Okay, waiting for the right circumstances before launching into our dreams. So why do we do it? Well, from my observation, it seems alot of folks have failed to grasp the basic idea of the nature of a birthed dream. As I said earlier, a dream starts out like a baby: small, delicate, dependent. Alot of folks however have the notion that their dreams have to be birthed in a complete, fully functional, quickly self sustaining howbeit scaled down state. ...I don’t think so. That's like expecting the mother to give birth to a fully developed, walking, talking, university graduate -howbeit small, day old man or woman as a baby! Yes, babies have the potential to be adults, but for the period immediately after birth, they are ...babies. Allowance has to be given for their care, nurturing and raising up into the adults they were always meant to be. Ditto for dreams. Just as the baby needs support to get through its developmental years, so also dreams need attention in order to fully become what you conceived them as.

Now finally, let's bring it back home: Dreams will more often than not be born small and into some degree of inconvenience. About 90% of the time, newly birthed ideas will need good amounts of attention either from the parent or 'birther' or from some other party with understanding and commitment to the dream. Attention here may refer not just to time but to material resources as well.

Now after all's been said, do we wait for when we have all these resources in place before starting off? Don’t think so. Now I'm not saying you should start off with nothing, no market knowledge, no feasibility studies, no experience of any sort and not even a little money. No, by all means get as much stuff as you need to start. But don’t wait to have everything in place before you start! This is important because -and allow me to use a term I've already discountenanced- if there are 'seasons of dreams' there's a high likelihood that the season or your dream might meet you when everything isn't in place. But you've still got to launch out. I like picking from this lesson given by Colin Powell: "Don't wait until you have enough facts to be 100 percent sure. Use the formula P=40 to 70, in which P stands for the probability of success and the numbers indicate the percentage of information acquired. Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut."

Now in conclusion, I must say that it does take a good deal of guts to pursue a big dream in the face of the odds that may abound. And it takes wisdom too (oh boy, does take wisdom!) And understanding (of alot of stuff) Needless to say you need God on your team to even contemplate the venture (wouldn't be a bad idea if He were in the driver's seat either!) So in all, I'd say these have to be in place for the birthing of any good dream. And when they are in place and your gut instincts say so, please go go go! It might just be time for it, who knows, any other time might be less ideal for that particular idea.

Sometimes the avoidance of risk is a risk in itself -of the future you desire and the heights you wish to attain. Everyday presents opportunities woven into the tapestry of everyday life and though the most astute among pick them out, only the enterprising and proactive thinkers will go on to weave the strands into priceless tapestry of an exceptionally bright and fulfilled future.

Finally, permit me to leave you with a familiar and very relevant quote from scripture: 'He who observes the wind will not sow' (emphasis mine)

-K-Black