Dreams can feel magical.  The dreams we dream at night are generally different than the dreams we dream during the daytime.  This post will simply focus on daytime dreams. 

Have you sat under a tree on a beautiful sunny day, with a gentle breeze rippling through the leaves and a bird chirping as you allowed your mind to drift off to your perfect life?  It may not have been under a tree on a summer day, but I suspect that somewhere along the way you have allowed your mind to drift, and you have had a vision of what your perfect life would look like. 

Walt Disney said, “If you can dream it you can do it.”  Disneyland was one of his dreams.  He faced ridicule and failure before he brought it into reality.  He had a dream and was not going to be denied.

It Was His Dream

This is a significant factor in his story.  It was his dream.  Society wasn’t saying “Walt, you need to create the happiest place on earth”.  His mom and dad weren’t saying “Walt you need to create a new type of amusement park.”  It was his dream. 

The obstacles he had to overcome to bring Disneyland to fruition were mammoth.  If his dream hadn’t meant everything to him, he never would have persisted.  He would have given up. 

If his board of directors at Disney Brothers Studio had said “Walt you need to create an amusement park to bring your animated characters to life.  It can’t be like any other amusement park.  Don’t have any roller coaster rides or games of chance. In addition, It needs to be clean and family-friendly.”  If that were the case, it is doubtful that the Disneyland we know and love would ever have come into existence.  It simply would have been too hard.  There would have been too many obstacles.  It would have been so easy and so logical to say “We are the best at making animated movies.  It only makes sense to focus on what we do well and is profitable.”   

It was only the depth of his dream, to create something unique and revolutionary, something he could envision, that was the driving force that turned his vision into our reality.

What is Your Dream?

Yes, Walt was a unique visionary and you and I may not rise to his level in impacting the world. 

However, we each have the same potential to turn our dreams into our realities.  The giant catch is that too often our dreams are not OUR dreams.  We are vulnerable in buying into societies’ description of a “dream life”.  We feel programmed to want to keep up with the Jones.  Often, they are not living their dream life either.  They are struggling to keep up with the “Jones” in their life.   

You can achieve everything that makes it look like you are living the dream, and yet be unhappy and unfulfilled because it isn’t your dream.  Only achieving YOUR dream can fill the empty places in your heart.

Our challenge is to set aside external influences and listen to our hearts.  What matters to you?  Do you have a sense of purpose beyond self-gratification?  Do you have God-given talents you feel compelled to share?

Create your unique dream.  It doesn’t matter what others think or say.  As you rise to that noble place in your life where you are living YOUR dream, you will have the capacity to lift and influence others for good in a way a “copycat dream” never could. 

Remember you are worth it and listen to Walt. “If you can dream it you can do it.”