I recently embarked on a project with a close family friend.

As we continued on the project, I realized it required much more work than was initially anticipated. It taught me once again the difficulty of stop dreaming and strart doing.

Though I was slightly perturbed, to not be informed on the full extent of the project and the amount of time I would need to invest in it. I recognized that it offered the most valuable opportunity — a chance to learn and grow, and so I determined no matter what, to make it a learning experience.

As we delved deeper into it, most persons we presented the vision to, were willing to come on board after seeing the full potential of how it could change their lives. However, this enthusiasm waned in conjunction with realizing the volume of work involved.

I couldn’t help but reflect on myself and consider when I have a dream, how often I go from mountaintop to valley experiences and stay there.

It is easy to have glorious dreams, visualize achieving it and thinking about what it would be like to achieve it. Yet as I go along and the longer the road and the distance to achieving it, my intensity of efforts wanes, as the path to reaching it seems so far off.

It was initially easy to watch at others in the project bow out, under the pressure of the amount of work, and complain about their lack of follow through.

However, as I have learnt to do, though difficult still, I considered my own self and engaged in self-reflection of what I do, when faced with the uphill battle of translating the dream to a reality.

Afer reflection, I recognized I would often do the same thing!

I would launch into a new endeavour with much gusto and fanfare and as soon as the rewards take longer than I expect to appear I wane in my enthusiasm.

“I think dreams can come true, but not necessarily like fairy-tales. It’s not always so perfect like that.”

— Patrick Dempse

It is a hard reflective lesson for me, but if I can’t be honest with myself, who then will I be honest with? It was indeed a hard realization about myself to swallow, a bitter medicine to take would be easier.

Stop Dreaming Start Doing

As I realized this through self reflection I wondered why it is so hard to keep pushing to translate a dream to reality. Why is it so hard to stop dreaming and start doing.

There is the motivation perspective of having small wins on the way to achieving the big wins. I realize though that as important as the motivation perspective is, there is a little more than that required.

It comes down to “why” of it. It also comes down to my nature, which inherently tends to view plenty effort as too much work and therefore not worth all this effort!! Ouch it hurt to say, but I have to be honest with me more than anyone else.

It’s easy to dream. I can spend an entire lifetime dreaming! It will cost time yes, but not effort, not grit hard determination to keep going, when the going really gets tough.

Transitioning from a dream to making it a reality is painted with glowing steps of an easy transition from effort to reward.

The expectation of the time, the setbacks, the challenges, the naysayers is often downplayed in my mind and the moment an obstacle hits in the path there is a bounce back of stopping, then another and another until eventually I give up and begin another dream and so the cycle continues.

A dream is safe, it transports me from the reality of my current existence to a much better one. A dream will always be just that though — a dream, if I don’t dig down hard and refuse to give up no matter what.

My expectations of realizing my various dreams has changed since engaging on the project, I continue to learn and grow and embrace a better understanding of the space between the dream and it coming to fruition.

I have determined never to give up!! I may go slow, I may face obstacles, opposition, naysayers, but the only time I fail is when I choose to give up!!

My comfort zone has always been a safe place, my dreams have always been a safe place, but the reality of making it come true is faced with very hard work, relentless determination and persistence. I don’t want to exist in a comfort place….I want to grow,

I am determined to realize all I have dreamed of doing and so I now realistically assess the space between the dream and it becoming a reality. Developing a realistic view will allow me to find that deep down commitment to relentlessly pursue…after all the people we all know of who achieved great success faced so many obstacles that they could have easily given up!!!

They are such an inspiration because in the face of challenges, when the dreamed feeled so unreal that it threatened their very being, they continued to pursue and they are now here to inspire us all !!

So today, I continue to have dreams, but I refuse to be just a dreamer, I now consider all that is involved in making it real, and take the steps knowing that the unexpected setbacks will come, but by being relentless in my pursuit, it can and will become a reality!

“Dreams come true all the time, just not for the dreamers.”— Eoin Colfer