So I was actually doing well in terms of motivation today, and I was making a phone call. While waiting for someone to answer, I was staring at a picture on my desk. More precisely, I was staring at the frame - you know those frames that have the nice silver writing like "Friends Forever." Anyway this one is a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt, and it says "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
Now, because I was motivated and I was staring, I decided to ponder such a statement. And I came to the conlcusion that this quote is a bunch of crap. If you take out "the beauty of," then I agree. Most people are dreamers, but never do anything about it. Some people however do chase their dreams when they believe them. Do you see me photographing eagles for National Geographic, or hosting some snake show on Discovery HD Originals, or filming documentaries about the atrocities happening in other countries, or making movies, or going into politics to actually make a difference, or writing a book. The answer is no, and it is because I believe in the beauty of my dreams, but this is much different than believing in my dreams.
Or is it? As I think about it, who knows the path before me? I say it is God. Maybe it is God who is the beauty of my dreams. Maybe that beauty is irresistable as life progresses, and I have no choice but to chase my dreams down. Maybe the future belongs to me.
This post started off funny in my head and ended up quite introspective. Now if I can just get me motivation back.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
What the heck does that mean?
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3 comments:
Welcome to my world. Now remain in that feeling for 16 hours a day and find yourself almost incapable of getting out of it and into a "motivated" frame of mind unless you've consumed vast amounts of caffeine or have a palpable fear of getting fired (again) if you don't "get to work."
Unless, of course, your work was that of which you dreamt.
In the book I'm reading right now, the author believes that these musings you have, your inner will as he calls it, are in fact the Will of God. They are honest expressions of your desire as opposed to contrived desires fabricated by an ego in danger. (That's my wording, you like that?) So, by denying your inner will, you are in fact defying the Will of God.
Now, to the - please pardon the phrase, for there is no judgement in it - more childish understanding of God, this causes fear because of disobedience and divine retribution. To the more mature understanding, as we discussed briefly in the "I'll pray for you." thread, you recognize that this command to obey His Will is not truly intended as threat of punishment, but a warning of unhappiness. We mut follow the letter of the law until we understand the spirit of the law, and then let the spirit guide us. Logos (mind, rules, masculine) married with Eros (spirit, nuturing, feminine).
We follow the Will of God not because we are bad little children who must escape punishment, but because we are beautiful children who often need to be saved from ourselves; our ego, our fears, our sense of human responsibilty.
Thus, the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. It belongs to those who see their dreams not as trivial fancies, but the beautiful Will of God.
I'm pretty sure I remember you telling me that you believe that God has a plan for you, and therefore you want to live according to that plan. What if you're getting the blueprints in your daydreams? Why aren't you out photographing eagles and bringing injustice into the light?
Probably the same reason I'm trying to make myself write a manual for nuclear safety protocols instead of publishing a book, writing a screenplay, or opening a tae kwon do school.
Hmmm, good point. Of course, some old Greek cat once said, "to do is to be." And then some other Greek cat said, "to be is to do." And then Frank Sinatra sang, "doobie doobie doooo."
Here's an interesting, related thought: My all-time favorite teacher once said, "We cannnot be who we are and become who we should be."
I guess this depends on if you're dreaming about doing things that are within your talents and skills. Many of us probably are capable of achieving what we dream about doing, but are too afraid of failing and finding out our true limitations. I read a book a few months ago called Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes, a guy who went through a major midlife crisis and ended up testing his limitations to the hyperextreme by running the equivalent of ten marathons back to back, among other things. I'm not sure I can get too philosophical for you right now, but the bottom line is, if you believe in your heart you're capable of achieving your dreams, you just have to push yourself and overcome your fears that you might be wrong about yourself. God made you in his own image. Have faith in God, and you'll find faith in yourself.
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