Following your Dreams is Not a Race

Whoa. Following your dreams is not a race. I think I said that more for myself than anyone right now but I’m sure you can relate at least a little.

We all have dreams

To write a book. Travel the world. Get married. Find the cure. Graduate. Make money as a professional photographer. Be a full time blogger. Sing on stage. Get that promotion. Raise loving & passionate kids. Beat your last race time. Open your own business. and the list goes on. I don’t know your dreams but you do. We are dreamers. We were created to dream, create, innovate, explore, and push toward new things.

I love this Timothy Keller quote that I just discovered by reading Experiencing God in your Work (which, side note, is a really great book on “work” and is already totally rocking some of my thoughts about work. It’s a great read!) :

When we take a piece of land and garden or farm it, or preserve it so it can produce its peculiar life-splendors, when we take fabric and make a piece of clothing, when we push a broom to clean up a place, when we use technology to harness the forces of electricity, when we take an unformed, naive human mind and teach it a subject, when we take unprocessed material and turn it into a poignant work of art, when we take undifferentiated tones and pitches (noise) and separate them out and arrange them to create music, (even when we pass a comb through our hair) – whenever we bring order out of chaos, whenever we draw out creative potential, whenever we elaborate and ‘unfold’ creation further than where it was when we found it – we are continuing God’s work of creative, cultural development.

What a beautiful image! We were created to create and to work. It is a way that we reflect God. Dreaming is built into our DNA.

If it is something we were created to do, then why does it feel so stressful?! We rush to meet deadlines & stare at dreams floating off in the distance doubting we’ll even even reach them. We spend so much time worrying about why we’re slow, what’s wrong with us, and sometimes even giving up on those dreams that feel too impossible.

It is not a race

We don’t lose when it takes longer than a week, or months, or years to see completion. We don’t fail when those dreams sit in our heart and the path to them isn’t clear, methodical, or making headway.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. – Philippians 1:6

This is one of my favorite scriptures of late (I’ve talked about it before here & here as my verse of the year) but I find it is so fitting for the creative, blogging, dreaming, small business, big plans life. This work that is being done in us will be finished – there is an end & a beautiful completion. But my dear friends, it is not a race. You don’t need to get there next week or tomorrow or by 3:00 pm this afternoon.

Your dreams and your work is part of a bigger story. It is the adventure of life – how we reflect the Lord (our creator) and how we love him in return. Yes, set small & achievable goals! Yes, set deadlines for little projects. and of course, yes, dream big! But don’t give up on those big dreams when they take a lot of little steps to get there.

Trust that your daily work is valuable too (hugging crying babies, cleaning messy kitchens, calling long distance friends, creating meals to feed your family, laughing at a funny joke or great youtube video, sneaking off for date night with your man, sending emails, taking a shower, sleeping in) They are all parts of the great work you do. Ask the Lord what He has for you that day and rest in that peace.