Day Twenty Four

DAY TWENTY FOUR
Dare to Dream
Routine, agenda, regimen, monotony, rat race. What do all of these words have in common? They involve repetition; they involve little to no thought, no creativity, no change, no spontaneity, no dreaming. Ultimately, they are the fast track to boredom, at best.

How many of us live our lives like that? At one point or other, we all do. But how long we do it depends on how long we've had our eyes closed. All around us is a world of beauty, a world of excitement, possibility, wonder, hope, and love, yet somehow, we close our minds, our hearts, and finally our eyes to it.

In this world, there exists two very different types of people: the Dreamers and the "Realists." Dreamers dream, create, love, give, offer hope, and expand the universe into realms that previously didn't exist. Realists, well they get exactly what they believe, what they "buy into". They live in the world of Dreamers past--the present. The present is the very limited vision that Dreamers long since gone had envisioned. Because it's an old dream that now belongs to the Realists, it has rules, regulations, standards, set backs, obstacles, and it has the unnerving power to consume your existence. The present is comprised predominately of the past, and only fractionally of the future. Thus, it is solely up to the Dreamers to make tomorrow's present better than today's by continuing to dream and create.

A critical difference between Dreamers and Realists is that Dreamers dynamically evolve from their ideas and creations. Realists do not evolve at all, regularly fall victim to zombification, and often feast upon the fallen dreams of the Dreamers. This is not because Realists are bad people, rather, when Dreamers fail, it reinforces the belief-system that is fundamental to the sanity of Realists--namely, when you dream, you fail. Thus, Realists do not dream, and they believe that they do not fail because of this.

To further separate the two, Dreamers have a keen eye for the world around them. Instead of seeing the world as it presents itself, some Dreamers are able to, with slight investigation, sharp intuition, and complete abandon of fear of failure, ridicule, or judgment, see the fabric of existence--that which permeates all things, all moments, and all of space. In doing so, these Dreamers are properly equipped to create, to paint new worlds on the template of life. Their biggest contender--the immediate world, the now, and the chant-like reminders of failure from the Realists.

Of the Dreamers, there are big Dreamers and there are little Dreamers. The little Dreamers are usually daring Realists that are hungry for a change. They've woken up, Matrix-style, and are driven to dream once they've seen the stark reality of their pre-determined lives they agreed to when they closed their eyes to the world. We think that we must close our eyes to dream, but ironically, we must open them.

And what of the big Dreamers? Those who heard the most doubt, endured the most ridicule, survived harsh judgment, and as fated, became those we remember most, admire, and aspire to become like? In pure dramatic, utterly climactic form, the big Dreamers almost always face the most monumental obstacles, the worst conditions, and ultimately their powers are spent overcoming all of this before they are ever afforded a real chance to dream. Nevertheless, they succeed, well beyond anything any little Dreamer can imagine, and far beyond the scope of a Realist's mind. What if they were never challenged? What if from moment one, they were allowed and encouraged to dream? How much more could they do?

So I challenge you to think. If your eyes are already closed, then surely your ears are too. Clearly this message isn't for you as you aren't even reading this. But if you get this, then I ask you to look at yourself. Examine your situation. Have you ever had an idea shot down? How did it make you feel? What happened when you had an idea that everyone told you wouldn't work, was foolish, was beyond your ability, etc., and it DID work? How did that make you feel? And what about those ideas you've had that you've never talked about. Maybe some you've already actualized and others you haven't. The ones that occurred are the dreams that came true. The ones that haven't are dormant dreams. They are sleeping, waiting. Wake them up before they fade. Your capabilities are unlimited. I'm telling you this as a Dreamer. I know this to be true. The Realists and the Realist's World want you to believe that you are limited. They want you to know your limits, stay within them, and NEVER explore beyond them, because if you do, you will fall on your face and have a big "I told you so" waiting for you. And when you do dream and succeed, they might offer you a simple, "you got lucky." Guess what. "Luck," in that sense, doesn't exist. That's a word Realists created to help them understand what they don't understand.

The last thing I want to say concerns identifying, promoting, and encouraging Dreamers. If you know a Dreamer, have a Dreamer, or either are a born or reformed Dreamer, then dream or encourage and dream or encourage big. Failure is a part of life. It's okay. But failing to dream--that's failing to live and that's not okay. Most importantly, and I don't care if you are a born Realist and you vehemently oppose everything I'm saying--NEVER stop, prevent, or hinder a Dreamer. If it weren't for them, this world wouldn't exist. Instead, if you can't offer support, at least be thankful and kindly step out of the way.

To fellow Dreamers: our present is darker than ever. It's up to us to bring the light and color back to the world. Smile, laugh, love, and dream. I see the beauty, I see the wonder. Let's show it to the World.

With all my love,
AO

wake up Neo

The Matrix is real