You Don’t Need to Have It All Figured Out to Live Your Dream

 

Are you dreaming big enough? If so, you may often feel overwhelmed by the seeming magnitude of what lies before you.

As we entertain dreams, visions, and goals that seem so immense that they become intimidating, we must not be daunted by the seeming length or difficulty of the journey ahead. I was reminded of this years ago while snow skiing. After an hour or so, the years that had passed since my last skiing expedition no longer seemed important and my adventurous side led me to a very difficult black run, full of moguls and steep angles.

Once I started down the run, I realized I was in way over my head. At that moment the temperature dropped suddenly and a fog rolled in that was so thick that I could not see more than three feet ahead of me. I began to panic. I wanted more than ever to get to the bottom of the slope and became more fixated on having the run behind me than on the thrill of the experience itself.

As soon as my attention and focus left the snow in front of me and went to the bottom of the steep slope, I lost control and came crashing to the ground, losing my skis and feeling the slap of the hard cold ground beneath me. I somehow managed to get up and put my skis back on, but before long my focus would shift and the same thing would happen again.

It was only when I resigned myself to pay attention to what was right in front of me that my body knew how to navigate each mogul. When I let go of needing to know exactly how I would get down that mountain and trust that I could make it a few feet at a time, I had everything I needed to succeed.

I think that’s how life is too.

When you feel dismayed at not having everything figured out right off the bat, you can ask yourself what you can do right now that will lead you closer to your goals. And you can trust that you will be given exactly what you need to continue your journey right when you need it. Sometimes conditions are not right to proceed full speed ahead, and circumstances take a frustrating turn.

Often the skills you need can only be developed through a series of challenges that require you to move beyond your comfort zone. You may see these events as setbacks and annoying deviations without realizing their perfect place in a larger plan that has much greater implications than what you originally envisioned.

Perhaps the whispers of our heart and the calls to greatness that we feel within our souls are essential components of a larger, collective plan that we each play a vital part in. As we rise up to play these parts fully and wholeheartedly, we can revel in the beauty of its mysterious unfolding.

In the process, we will discover ourselves to be greater than we thought we were and use each moment of our lives to create something extraordinary for ourselves and others.