Dreams Are Complex

[Guest Post by Abby Talsma – I’m always excited to meet a new friend so I can introduce you as well. I appreciate her words to use wisdom to find that fine line in your dreams. I know I’m guilty of forcing my dreams, but it’s through God and His wisdom that I learn to let them develop as they should and not one second before. What about you?]

There’s this fine line with dreams. A fine line that separates two very different worlds.

Going too far, or not going anywhere. Steamrolling whomever or whatever you need to, or burying your dream deep down where it cannot possibly breath or escape. Compromising your morals, or ignoring God’s whisperings to just go for it.

So where is the middle ground?

How do we find it? How do we go about getting what we want, what we’ve always dreamed of, with grace and humility?

For me, it is this battle in my heart that goes back to the dream itself.

So often, so many of us begin pursuing a dream. And actually beginning this endeavor, this is hard in itself. Because dreams are complex. And intricate. To be honest, they take a whole ‘lotta work.

Dreams rarely bring in a great deal of money. At least right away. And that scares us. How can I give this up?

This job.

This life.

This country.

Whatever this is for you.

Dreams require us to drop things, leave things, or forget things–at least for a season.

And that, my friends, is terrifying. Because what we so often have is comfortable and easy. And yet, still so inside your box. But, then, that moment happens. For whatever reason, you decide to go for it. To cease keeping one foot in each world, stretching between the two.

This is the point where it gets hard.

Hard not to lose yourself. Hard to keep your head above water. Hard to remember what your dream actually was.

I started blogging a couple of months back, and I can’t believe the desire, the temptation, that creates itself so fast and just festers; this temptation to have hundreds, or even thousands of followers.

Because she does.

Or they do.

And that woman, she has a whole sidebar full of sponsors.

Or look at her, she makes cute, organic handmade goods.

It goes on. and. on.

So I take a step back. Or maybe it’s a stumble.

And ask myself why I started writing. Was it because I dreamed of the number of followers I could one day have, or the number of people who would comment on my writing?

No, I began this journey to share my life, my stories, and my pictures with family and friends while living and volunteering in a different country.

Do I continue to write because I want people to sponsor me and notice me?

No, I write because sometimes I don’t know what is inside this swirling mind of mine until I let my pencil scrawl itself across the page, or let my fingers tap across those keys. I started because I love to write, and have the dream to be able to carry this writing into a more frequent endeavor. To take it from the pages of my journal or the thoughts in my head to the pages in someone else’s world.

That’s it.

So often, the dreams that we have are so heavily affected by this broken world we live in, and by the desires that we have.

To be known.

To make money.

Or to be famous, on whatever level that may be.

Dreams are these beautiful, beautiful creatures. They spark in us passion.

Hope.

Love.

If only we will let them be what they are, and leave the ugliness behind.

Go out there and pursue your dreams. Because this world needs more complexity. It needs your beauty.

Abby Talsma is a twenty-something blogger over at abbytalsma.com, as well as a freelance teacher. After recently returning from a volunteer experience in Ecuador, and having her world rocked, she has been sorting through everything she learned and re-learned. Abby believes in the power of love, peace, and putting a priority on serving God and our fellow humanity.

[Photo: Shutterstock]