The Purpose of Hopes And Dreams

I've heard it said many times that people without talent create their destinies with unrelenting will and perseverance.  With hard work they make their dreams come true and they make it big.  I'm just envious that they know what the hell their dream is in the first place.  I have had the drive in me to be the best that I can be since I was a small kid.  I have had many dreams over the years and have mostly made most of them come true.  As I get older the problem seems to be what the dreams are anymore.

I was thinking about this problem again today and trying to determine what the destination should be for my future.  This is when I began to realize that the achievement of the goals isn't the destination but merely milestones in the direction of travel.

Hopes and dreams, by this way of thinking, are nothing more than dangled carrots.  Your spirit is just teasing you forward in the direction you need to go.  The carrot isn't the goal.  The dream isn't the goal.  Moving up is the goal.

To illustrate this, imagine you have a horse and carriage and you are in New York City.   You have to get the carriage to Boston.  You know the way but the horse does not.  There are no reigns on the horse and all you can do is whisper to him or dangle carrots to keep him moving.  Now the journey from New York to Boston is a long way on a horse.  Dangling a carrot will probably only work for a while before the horse will realize that he isn't going to get the carrot will stop trying.  At this point you will need to give him the carrot and temp him with another.  If you give him the carrot without a proper amount of movement he will become entitled and will do less and less expecting the carrot.

This seems very frustrating and must be how God feels on a daily basis.  Now imagine that the horse realized that somehow that going to Boston was a good thing and decided to just walk there on his own watching you for guidance of which direction to turn. He could eliminate the frustration of chasing the carrot followed by the high of getting it followed by the desire for another. He could just enjoy eating the carrots when they were given to him.  And perhaps the carrots would come more frequently because they are no longer needed for bait.  The horse would get closer and closer to Boston with peace in his heart and carrots in his belly.

My favorite metaphor for life is of the mountain.  The purpose of life it to reach higher elevations in an attempt to become closer to God.  At the top of the mountain you will be above the tree line and can see life for exactly what it is about as well as the true magnificence of the heavens.  Most people spend their lives trapped in the fog and the smog down in the valley.  Dreams and goal have a very specific way of separating the crowd into those with the ambition to climb the mountain and those content with the fog.  Some dreams are way up the mountain and bring the climber a great way up while some just might get them a few feet in the right direction.  Regardless of where on the mountain the goal lives the point isn't to just reach that goal or milestone.  The goal is to get past it to the top of the mountain.

Even if you are so deep in the fog that you have no idea which way to go, start moving.  If you feel it is taking you higher then keep going.  If you are heading down hill then stop, turn around and go the other way.  

One final note on this.  Don't wait for those around you to come with you.  You may think that you are being selfish by leaving them behind but the best thing you can do for those you are close to is to show them that there is a path up this mountain and that it can be climbed.  Keep climbing.