If you dream of great success as a farmer would dream of succulent fruit, and if you are serious, then here are the indispensable steps you must go through: plant, water and believe.
- Plant the seed. Take action; make the investment; dedicate the time and effort; submit the plans; sign on the bottom line, launch the program and make that commitment.
- Water the fledgling plant. Nurture the dream; observe, learn and improve your approach; seek out experts who understand the ways of that plant; study and develop the skills needed to make the dream possible; and simply work your butt off, every day.
- Believe, beyond the physical evidence. You do not control the sun, the air or other circumstances that affect your plant, but you must believe and keep on watering. That means, when you fail, you get up and go again; when others tell you that insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result, you keep on believing and watering. God or nature will eventually reward those who passionately believe and whose belief is backed by action that is persistent, indefatigable and irrepressible!
When, after all that, your dream actually comes to pass, you make a curious discovery. Your dreams don’t get fulfilled when the circumstances change and become favorable; it is you who have had to change to make your dream a reality. The patience, endurance, faith and other virtues will have caused great transformation in your life. You will then see that you do not merely gain success, but instead, you become a success. And that kind, my friend, is far more profound and sustainable than winning the lottery.
Questions: So how do you know that you won’t die before the dream is fulfilled—will the lifetime effort even be worth it? And what if the dream is beyond the capability of the dreamer to fulfill—e.g. what if a midget dreams of winning the 100 meters race at the Olympics?
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One cannot know with any certainty that they would not die during the process of pursuing their dream nor can they be any more certain that having achieve that dream that they will be able to enjoy its benefits. Nevertheless, you must plant that seed, you must take that calculated risk, you must raise that child. There is oftentimes something critical that is missing from dream chasers who have that tunnel vision focus on the goal only. That is, you must find satisfaction and pleasure in the journey also. To open yourself to new learning, new experiences, new people even that you will encounter along the way. It can be devastating to find out at the end that your dream was a nightmare that you should have realized from the beginning and qualifying the dream should have been made. Nothing is wrong with the midget dreaming of winning the 100 meters race at the Olympics if she understands that it is the Paralympic games the pursuit should be.
Interesting comment, Steve. Fixation on the goal can certainly lead to frustration and disappointment, but if the joy is in the journey, then every step is meaningful.
The tree does notalways bear fruit in our lifetime. Sometimes we are called on to plant and we must pass the baton on to others to water and then the reaping occurs. The deep sense of satisfaction should really come from the fact that we were part of a meaningful venture. It is human to want to see the tree heavy with fruit. The reality is that our eyes will not always behold this.