Don’t Let Your Dream Scare You

June 27, 2012 By Deidra

“What about you?” I asked the woman in the church’s Fellowship Hall. “What’s your dream?” There are two reasons her answer took me by surprise.

First of all, she didn’t hesitate. I don’t know if she took a breath before she said, “You know, I don’t even know what my dream is.” And that was the second surprise. She didn’t know her dream. Couldn’t name it.

I’ve been on a “Follow Your Dream” kick, and what I remembered in that Fellowship Hall is how elusive our dreams can be. They don’t follow the norm and they don’t fit the status quo. Dreams rock the boat, and so we squash them and point our fingers at them. We use our stern voices and we tell them to go to their room and not to come out until they’re ready to say “I’m sorry” and then we make them vow to sit quietly in the corner. Dreams don’t promise a cushy 401K or health insurance or six figures or even five.

Dreams are scary, and because they scare us, we don’t always get to know them.

When I told God my dream, it wasn’t something that just rolled of my tongue. Oh, I knew there was something in there, but I had never verbalized it. When I said it to God, it was after nearly twenty-four hours of trying to figure out what that dream was. If you’d asked me to tell you my dream before I’d actually shared it with God, I probably would have said something that sounded a lot like that woman in the Fellowship Hall. Because the idea of standing on my two feet with my hands on my hips and daring to think I had a dream worth pursuing scared me, and it seemed like too much work.

Besides, what if God and the rest of the world thought my dream was ridiculous? What if God and the rest of the world think your dream is ridiculous?

Well, for starters, having a ridiculous dream does not make you a ridiculous person. In fact, it puts you in some pretty amazing company. And also? Ridiculous does not scare God.

So, now that we’ve got that out of the way, tell me, what’s your dream? Take your time. Push past the knocking knees and sweaty palms. Don’t answer right away. Mull it over. Talk about it with God. Write it on a napkin. Then, rewrite it. Edit it. Tweak it. Write it in your journal, in ink. Read it out loud. Whisper it if you have to. Let your voice be shaky – it’ll get stronger. It will.

1,465 Comments Filed Under: Your Big Amazing Ridiculous Dream Tagged With: epiphany

Sharon O

Let me think about this… as you say , “take my time”… what a challenge.

http://www.deidrariggs.com/ Deidra

Yes. Take your time. But not too much time.

Helen F

My dream is, that at the end of this life, I’ve lived out 1Corinthians 9:19-23 in every facet of my life…personal & professional!

http://www.deidrariggs.com/ Deidra

I had to go look that up.
It’s a perfect description of you, Helen. You’re living your dream, and it is a beautiful thing to behold!

http://bg4.me/KFyePg

http://twitter.com/MaryB0583 Mary Bonner

I will have to think about this…then, I hope I have the courage to write it…in ink!

http://www.deidrariggs.com/ Deidra

You’ll have the courage, Mary! You will! Can’t wait to hear about it!

pastordt

Interesting challenge, Deidra. I just might take you up on it! Thanks for your continuing encouragement to dream with God and then put feet to it.

http://www.deidrariggs.com/ Deidra

I hope you do take me up on it, Diana. And then come back and let me know what you discover! I do believe God’s got His eye on you!

http://www.arock4him.blogspot.com/ Amy Hunt

I have been so with you on this dream stuff. You know that, right?

Adoption. It’s crazy. And really, the kind where it’s private and we’re helping a courageous teen.

And, developing a non-profit foundation for girls in sport. Something like that.

I find myself talking about them both. With such odd confidence, as if they’re both really going to happen.

So crazy big. Just like Him!

(I think you’ve got yourself a book in the making with this, my friend. You know that, too, right?)

http://www.deidrariggs.com/ Deidra

I hear you cheering me on when I do my push-ups in the morning! (seven today, eight tomorrow)

Yeah, the God-sized dreams are the ones that are just crazy, aren’t they? They come with that weird confidence you talk about. As if you could beat an entire army with just 300 people on your side. Crazy!

Amy Hunt

Go, Deidra! I look forward to hearing more about the push-ups. If you seem to go backward at a point, or hold steady…just keep on! He showed me so much about His Big-ness and His dreams in the journey of push-ups. Just that was crazy!

http://twitter.com/MarilynYocum Marilyn Yocum

I have begun sharing from my enormous stash of memories of growing up with a mother who struggled with alcohol addiction. This isn’t the story I would have chosen, but it’s one given to me. I am trying to steward it well.

I take to heart Synge’s advice to Keats, to “give voice to a people who have no voice.”

Marilyn
p.s. I’m enjoying your BIG DREAM posts, all of them! It takes COURAGE to have a dream and COURAGE to step into it when the time comes. Write on!

http://www.deidrariggs.com/ Deidra

Oh, this idea of stewardship has been riding along in my heart all year, Marilyn! The idea that nothing I have is really just for me. More and more I’m understanding everything I have – even my dreams – belong to God. He simply lets them pass through me on their way to someone else.

You steward well, Marilyn. And you bless us all because of it.
http://www.deidrariggs.com/ Deidra

Marilyn, I’ve just returned from your place, and I am crying. The story you’re sharing there is stunning. “My mother has gone exotic…” What thoughts for a child. Wow!

http://marilynyocum.com/2012/06/27/mom-goes-to-dry-out-we-put-on-our-best-dresses/

http://bmeandering.blogspot.com/ Beth

To find my artistic niche–to tap into that artist that I locked up in a room deep inside me years ago–to draw and paint –to have a studio where I can shut the world out and its criticisms and simply create without someone looking over my shoulder commenting and judging. (I didn’t have to think about this one–it’s been a yearning in me for years–I’m now trying to make the dream a reality.

http://www.deidrariggs.com/ Deidra

What a beautiful dream! That part about not having someone looking over your shoulder with a judgmental eye is a great detail! Sometimes the words of others are enough to stop our dreams in their tracks.

http://www.redletterbelievers.com/ David Rupert

For a long time I was told by a very practical person that dreams were just rubbish unless you actually took the time to live them out. And so, I squelched dreaming, because some of them were just foolish, but fun.

Now, I’m learning to dream a little – even the crazy stuff. We are writing down ‘million dollar ideas’ — one a day. And they are the silliest inventions ever, like “pet pine trees” and a documentary on walking backwards for a year. Can do any of them? Who cares…

http://www.deidrariggs.com/ Deidra

David, I attended an Ideation seminar last year. The facilitator told us about a ridiculous idea someone once had and we all – all of us! – shot it down. There were so many practical reasons the idea wouldn’t work. Well, turns out someone turned that ridiculous idea into a reality and it’s now a profitable business in Italy.Go figure! And…dream on!

http://www.nebraskagraceful.blogspot.com Michelle DeRusha

I needed this today, Deidra. Because even though I’ve claimed my dream (in ink, no less!), it still scares me…it still feel ridiculous at times. Sometimes I feel like saying to God, “Here, take it back please. I’ve made a grave mistake.”

http://www.deidrariggs.com/ Deidra

I get that, Michelle. I’ve had a few of those days, too. That’s when I send frantic emails or leave desperate voice mail messages for you and my posse. You always pull me through.