A dream
is not meant to come easy. It is meant to push us to the peak of our abilities,
abilities that we don’t even know we have. Kindly read (Eccle. 5:3). Most
times, we have troubles getting started or continuing with our goals and
dreams, or we discover that achieving them is going to take more time, finance
or effort than we thought it would, and then we start to lose our motivation
and our driving force that initially got us started. In such cases, we have to
always remember that our dreams are not just for us alone. It may be “OUR DREAM”, but our dreams are tailored
into being the solution to other people’s problems and that so many people are
depending on them for better living.
Jordan Belfort
said this, “The only thing that’s standing between you
and your dreams are the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you
cannot achieve it”. Life’s problems wouldn’t be called “hurdles” if there wasn’t a way to get
over them. We simply have to look for ways to get over them.
Circumstances may cause interruptions
which leads to delays in achieving our dreams, but never lose sight of your
dreams. Every experience we encounter on our way to our goals and dreams should
increase our knowledge on our goals and other aspect of our lives, but some
people, Christians especially, ignorantly allow these experiences, to sway them
off their dreams.
THINGS THAT HINDER OUR DREAMS FROM BECOMING A
REALITY
I would like to briefly write on
certain things that can hinder/militate our dreams from becoming a
reality. Let’s take a critical look at those things that could prevent
us from realizing and actualizing our dreams.
·
Generational
curses:
The only thing we can do in this kind of a case is to fervently seek God’s
help. Only God can help break the chains of generational curses. Curses are
very real, so we need to break loose from the shackles of such curses. Hosea 4:6.
·
Having
an ungrateful nature:
This is one thing that deprives people of the realization of their dreams. Some
people are so ungrateful that they don’t know how to use one of the most
powerful, simple words “THANK YOU”. We have to learn to be
grateful to people even in small things, because it tends to impress people to
do more for us. Some people don’t even thank God when they wake up in the
morning, this also is a form of ungratefulness.
·
Fear
of failure:
Failure is not fatal until we give up.
So many great inventors in our world today had points when they failed, but
what made them great was the fact that they never stayed down, they picked
themselves up and improved on the knowledge they had from their failures. Thomas
Edison said this after he invented the light bulb, “I don’t consider times when I failed in my invention, I don’t even
think I failed then because I only got to know so many ways on how not to make
a light bulb”. There is no STAR without a SCAR. Face your
fears else they will get bigger with time. In Genesis, the bible refers to
satan as a serpent, but in Revelation, that serpent grew to become a dragon.
·
Excuses:
Some people are so used to giving excuses for everything. They never take
responsibilities for their actions, always looking for who or what to blame.
People use excuses like ‘I am too young’,
‘I don’t have money’, ‘I may do it wrongly’, ‘I may fail’, ‘I am not ready’, ‘most people
have done this and failed’, etc. Luke 9:60-62, Exo. 4:10-14, Jer. 1:4-10,
Judges 6:12-17.
·
Procrastination:
Whatever you want to do, the best time is NOW.
Don’t postpone what you have to do now to a later time. Time waits for no one;
we have to move as the time ticks.
·
Expecting
too much: Some people are used to counting their chicks before the eggs are
hatched. Some are even having the habits of spending the little money on
them because an uncle promised to send them some extra money. Yes, it’s good to
have faith, but faith without work is dead. Expecting too much from people will
only slow us down, kills our passion and can ultimately stops us from becoming
what we ought to be.
·
Side
distractions: Let us make the word “FOCUS” our watchword.
Let’s not get carried away by things that are not worth our dreams. Remember
that not everything that glitters is gold.
·
Lack
of consistency: There is a popular saying that says “consistency
births perfection”. Every master in a particular vocation was once an
apprentice. Never pass any chance to improve yourself. Keep doing what you do,
and your time will come. Look for better ways to improve, package and deliver
your products.
·
Having
a low self esteem: We have to carry ourselves with so
much confidence. Every star is bold and confident. Even the Bible confirmed
this and said in 1Corinthians 15:41
that ‘There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and
another glory of the stars: for one star differ from another star in glory’.
Don’t feel inferior. Inferiority is not a trait of a Christian; we have the
spirit of charismatic boldness and not a flawed timidity.
·
Laziness
and fear of responsibilities: You get back
home after a stressful day at work, hungry and tired; you hit your bed with
your shoes still intact. There is no amount of prayer that would get the shoes
off your feet, or cause an angel to come down from heaven to cook you a meal
and feed you. The only thing the prayer will do is to give you strength to do
the needful. You will never realize the strength until you get off your bed and
do what you have to do. The same applies to real life experiences, most times
we pray for crazy and unheard-of miracles, but God will only give us the
strength to get those things done.
Other Factors Are:
- Financial mismanagement.
- Wanting to be like somebody else (imitations).
- Not knowing when to take a break before you breakdown (time to retreat).
- Not setting our priorities right.
- Talking too much.
- Lacking a S.M.A.R.T plan (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound).
- Lack of commitments.
- Negative mindset.
- Living in the past glory.
- Living a proud life.
- Ignorance
To round this up, I would like us to
look deep into ourselves, as we know ourselves better than anyone else, what
are those things or characters that you know is preventing you from moving to a
higher level in life? Take responsibility for your life today and tell God to
help you grow in wisdom, in knowledge and in understanding of your true
purpose, and ask Him for help. Seek for God’s face and not just His hands. Ask
for what you need and not what you want. Ask God to work with you and through
you. Allow the light of God to shine in you (Eph. 5:7-14). You are blessed…