Dream Big

There is a scene in the movie The Pursuit of Happyness where the main characters (Father and Son) are playing basketball together. The son (who is 5 years old) is telling his dad how he is going to be in the NBA someday. The dad responds with a reality check. He basically tells his son he has no hope of being above average in basketball because it is not "in his genes." The son responds by throwing the basketball away. Realizing his mistake, the dad pulls his son aside, "Don't let anyone take your dream away, even me."

I've been thinking about that scene today. I have a tendancy to be a dream-breaker. I tend to shoot ideas down quickly if I don't think they are realistic. I don't like to take chances and weigh the risks very carefully. Now there is a time and a place for reality checks, BUT dreams can be fragile and should be protected and nurtured.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" As a child this question holds endless possibilities. While many of them are unrealistic (i.e. astronauts and presidents are few and far between), does it really hurt to let my child dream an unlikely dream? I hope that when God gives my child a "big dream" I will not stand in the way with a reality check, but will cheer them on.

I also hope I will not stand in the way of my own dreams. Dreams can be scary. They often mean leaving your comfort zone and taking a risk. Going after a dream is very easy to write about, but very hard to put into practice. To never attempt, however, sounds worse. To make it to the end of my life and never have tried is something I do not want to experience.

If you have a dream, my advice is to pray about it, make sure it is a God-given dream (the other kind aren't worth pursuing), don't let dream-breakers get in your way and go for it. Then watch out, dreams really can come true!