When I was in grade school, I couldn’t see very well. I remember that everything looked a little fuzzy to me. When I got my first pair of glasses, however, my whole world changed. Literally.
Stepping outside the doctor’s office with my new glasses, I was amazed at what I could see. The trees that had always looked like large green masses had suddenly transformed into wonderful, beautiful works of art with thousands of individual green leaves. Each stoic, faceless building came to life as every detail, right down to the textured bricks, became clear. And, instead of a solid sea of green lawn, I noticed every single blade of grass.
If you’ve never had to wear glasses, you may not know what I’m talking about. But to me, the difference was astounding. Everything that had once been unclear had now come into focus. It was startling. It was amazing. It felt like I was seeing everything for the first time.
When I think about my big dreams now, they can seem like those trees from the days before I got my glasses. Big masses without definition, large and undefined. When I am faced with trying to figure out where to start, I find myself pushing things to the side to deal with another day. The problem is that the longer I wait to start the larger the obstacles seem to grow. It begins to feel like too much effort and I just give up.
When we become overwhelmed by the obstacles in achieving our dreams, or the dreams just seem too large to navigate, we must break them down into smaller, more manageable pieces. We need to put our glasses on and focus on the individual steps to achieving our goals. By focusing on just one step at a time, the path becomes much clearer.
Remember, just because you can’t see something, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. There is always a path to where you want to go. My blurry vision wouldn’t allow me to see the leaves on the trees and yet they were there. We must have proper vision in order to see things clearly.
We need vision and a plan for achieving our dreams. Vision to see the smaller pieces and the path ahead and a plan to move us forward.
Recently, I heard Henry Winkler in an interview. He said, “In order to achieve your dreams, you just start walking toward what you want. And then, never, ever, ever stop walking.” The very simplicity of his statement struck me. I try to remember it when I have over-thought and over-complicated my situation.
I think Henry was right, maybe what we need to do is fixate on what we desire and just walk toward it. Take just one step each day. And, then another. Then celebrate that step because it is one step closer than the day before. Let’s remind ourselves that it doesn’t matter how many steps it takes to get there. If we just keep walking, eventually we will arrive.
“Dreams come in a size too big so that we may grow into them.” Josie Bissett
