Today, on the day that we celebrate the powerful man who encourages us to DREAM, Martin Luther King, Jr., I was given a great gift by an old friend. This gift wasn’t material in nature or an experience of any sort, rather it was a REMINDER of the importance of MAKING YOUR DAYS COUNT.
My friend shared with me a poem called DREAM BIG. He shared this with me after watching a video I made and posted to Facebook about my son’s first year on earth. (You can watch the video here. Note it was my FIRST time playing with iMovie … and give the program two thumbs up for novices like me. If you are thinking of making a movie, do it! It’s very user friendly and you’ll be amazed by your creation.)
The last scene of the video was the message: DREAM BIG (words on a shirt [pictured above] given to my son by another amazing friend Kelly Newsome. I have great friends!). This 2-second clip inspired him to share these amazing words with me … which then inspired me to share them with you. Don’t you just love the domino effect of sharing?
This is what life is about, folks … spreading ideas worth sharing. Standing up for what you believe in. Having the audacity to hope, to dream, to take a stand, to hold people up, to encourage people to LIVE the LIFE that they dream about, to inspire yourSELF to live a life that you are deeply, madly, passionately in love with.
And there will be naysayers out there who challenge you, who want to hold you back, who are nervous about you having a larger vision of yourself, of humanity, of the world. They’ll ask WHY?
When they tell you it can’t be done, that you’ll fail, that there is NO way, what will you do? I encourage you to muster up your strength, courage, vision and passion and say: Watch me.
Dream big. Trust. Persist. Do it right.
I share this poem with you, passed on to me from my old pal from New Smyrna Beach High School Patrick Heaton. Thanks, friend. And my deepest gratitude to Dr. King for continuing to remind us that ANYTHING is possible.
DREAM BIG
If there were ever a time to dare,
To make a difference
To embark on something worth doing
It is now.
Not for any grand cause, necessarily –
But for something that tugs at your heart
Something that is worth your aspiration
Something that is your dream.
You owe it to yourself
To make your days count.
Have fun. Dig deep. Stretch.
Dream big.
Know, though,
That things worth doing
Seldom come easy,
There will be times when you want to
Turn around
Pack it up and call it quits
Those times tell you
That you are pushing yourself
And that you are not afraid to learn by trying.
Persist.
Because with an idea,
Determination and the right tools,
You can do great things.
Let your instincts, your intellect
And let your heart guide you.
Trust.
Believe in the incredible power
Of the human mind
Of doing something that makes a difference
Of working hard
Of laughing and hoping
Of lasting friends
Of all the things that will cross your path
Next year
The start of something new
Brings the hope of something great.
Anything is possible
There is only one you
And you will pass this way but once.
Do it right.
-Author unknown
** Dear reader, how will YOU dream big today? How are you making TODAY count? Please share in the comments section below. See you there! **
