Unlock your potential to become a better version of you
Most weekend mornings, if my daughters are not yet awake, I walk into their rooms, open the curtains, and ask, “What big plans are on the agenda for the day?” and “I wonder what God has in store?”
After that, I sometimes utter a little poem that I heard long-ago, “Only as high as you reach can you grow; only as far as you seek can you go, only as deep as you look can you see, and only as far as you dream can you be.”
For I like to instill in my girls the wonder, the possibilities and beauty in each new day.
Are you following the dreams God placed in your heart? Is there a goal that you long to attain? Are you reaching for your highest aspirations? Are you unlocking your full potential? Or have you tossed your dreams and them to the sideline, because of a past negative situation, stumbling blocks or self-limiting assumptions? Maybe you’ve experienced some tough times and, in your distress, you’ve constructed a wall around yourself. And those boundaries are limiting what you can really bring about and achieve.
However, before you throw in the towel, keep in mind when you first embark on a dream or a new project, it can be exhilarating. But most often, there is a long ‘highway’ between the beginning of a dream and its realization. The road may be filled with potholes and detours. So, instead of giving up and falling back in desolation, the questions you must ask yourself are, “Does working toward my dream bring me joy and fulfillment?” “Will my enthusiasm for my dream enable me to overcome dips in the road?” “Do I trust that God will bring my dream to pass, if it is His will?” And, “Who will benefit from my dream?” What is important is that you love each day of your journey, as you pursue what’s in your heart.
Don’t go backward. Move forward. God has called you to do something great. He has given you skills and talents that are yours alone. You’re smart, strong and capable; there’s no one else exactly like you. Therefore, let go of excuses and self-imposed limitations. Challenge the status quo, get out of your comfort zone, and give all you have to your dream. With God as your guide, begin to tread a new path. For I like what D.L. Moody once said, “If you partner with God, make your plans big!”
So, as you work and patiently wait, imagine God is walking in front of you opening up the right doors and closing the wrong ones. Possibly, one door has been closed for a reason. Thus, you can walk through another door that will lead you to greater peace and happiness. Regardless of how outward circumstances appear right now, God’s word says that “He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all you could ever ask, think or imagine.” God’s plans are for your good, and “He can make a way where there seems to be no way.” Trust Him and start believing again in your God-given abilities to see your dreams come to fruition, keeping your eye focused on what’s most important. God has a special plan and when it unfolds, it will be better than what you had hoped.
Years ago, I read a story somewhere about a boy nicknamed, “Sparky.” Throughout his youth, he must have felt like an underdog, as it was said that Sparky was a shy and awkward boy. But God gave him a gift; the ability to draw. “Someday, you’re going to be an artist,” a kindergarten teacher once uttered to him. And he held that dream in his heart.
Yet, Sparky was rejected over and over. In his senior year of high school, he submitted some drawings to the editors of his yearbook. He was painfully turned down. Sparky sent some art samples to various companies. Yet, he was rejected time and again.
But, “The world has the habit of making room for the man whose actions show that he knows where he is going,” wrote author, Napoleon Hill. So, when you go through disappointments, don’t ever get so disheartened that you give up on your dreams. Keep focused on your goal. For most brilliant ideas and changes require a time of discomfort. Yet, for the most part, discomfort is usually a good sign, as it can mean that you are getting somewhere. Recently, Ginger, a friend of mine declared, “Life does have a way of working out.”
Sparky worked at various odd jobs, and was in the service, but never settled for average, nor let his dream go. Subsequently, Sparky had a creative thought, and he decided to draw his own autobiography in a comic strip. The hurts of his early years provided the material, as he described his childhood in pictures; a little-boy who was an under achieve; a child who was not popular and who was clumsy. He drew pictures of himself holding a kite that would never fly, kicking a football and falling down, and losing a baseball game.
Sparky, the boy who was shy and rejected, grew to become the famous cartoon character, Charlie Brown in his comic strip Peanuts! Every time Charles Schulz failed, he bounced back. Schultz never quit or gave up on God’s good plan for his life. He dreamed a big dream and made it come true! And you can do the same.
What would have happened if Charles Schulz didn’t dream? So, unlock your potential, think big and work hard to make those dreams a reality, because no dream is too big for our magnificent God.