From Patti Sardalla
PIFAAP Vice Chair
June 26, 2010
This
has started out to be a joyous morning. I caught a glimpse
again of the red and blue bird that has been frequenting our
backyard. It is now strutting behind the plants, jumping back
and forth and is now behind the fortune plants. It must be a
"she" and "She" must be constructing a nest. If only I can catch it
with a picture so you can see its wonderful and vibrant colors…
Excuse the avian digression. I couldn't help myself.
I am in the last pages of the book by John C. Maxwell, "Put
Your Dream to the Test." Allow me to share some of the
wonderful pages I have just gone through.
"If you are passionate about your dream, you probably have the
energy and incentive it takes to get moving and take steps to
pursue it….. If you possess tenacity, then you probably won't give
up on your dream if the pursuit of it becomes difficult. Are these
qualities enough to carry you through? Maybe. But there's
another question that must be asked, one that speaks to whether the
dream you are pursuing is worth all the effort, time, and attention
you are giving to it. You must answer the Fulfillment
Question: Does working toward my dream bring
satisfaction?"
"I (meaning John C. Maxwell) believe that it makes all the
difference because achieving a dream is more than just what you
accomplish. It's about who you become in the
process! A great dream isn't merely a destination.
It's a catalyst for a great journey. If that journey is right
and you can answer yes to the Fulfillment Question, I wouldn't go
as far as to say that the destination doesn't matter, but I will
say that if you don't actually reach your dream, the journey is
worth taking. Why? Because the journey itself is fulfilling."
"Author and speaker Jim Rohn points out, "The twin killers of
success are impatience and greed." They are often also the killers
of dreams. Most people want results that are quick and dramatic.
However, the reality is that most dreams are achieved very slowly,
and the results come about unspectacularly. If you have achieved
any major goals in your life, then you already know that realizing
goals can be less thrilling than imagining them. That's why you
need to learn to take satisfaction in the journey and find
fulfilment in the small steps along the way. Aviation pioneer
Amelia Earheart asserted, "You can do anything you decide
to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the
procedure, the process is its own reward."
"You have the potential to make many wonderful discoveries
in the pursuit of your dream. None will be greater than what you
discover about yourself… As you follow your dream, you
will find that you can be more persistent than you thought.
You can be more resourceful than you imagined. You can go
places and do things that you never thought possible."
According to John Maxwelll, " The pursuit of my dream has taken me
out of my comfort zone, elevated my thinking, given me confidence,
and confirmed my sense of purpose. My pursuit of my dream and
my personal growth have become so intertwined that I now ask
myself, Did I make the dream, or did the dream make
me."
"Author Thomas Merton wrote that the greatest value of your dream
won't be what you get from it; it will be who you become by
pursuing it. In the end, it is not our dreams that we
conquer. It is ourselves. You and I can discover
ourselves if we are willing to look for fulfilment in the gap."
"The human spirit is a miracle. Once it accepts a new
idea or learns a new truth, it is forever changed. Once stretched,
it takes on a new shape and never goes back to its original
form. When we discover growth from the inside, we experience
gains on the outside. And when that happens we become
fulfilled. No wonder children's book author Elizabeth
Coatsworth said, "When I dream, I am ageless."
"If you're not doing something with your life, it doesn't matter
how long it is. It is not enough to just survive. You
need to really live. There's nothing extraordinary about
simply going the distance from life to death. Going the
distance - that was Rocky Balboa's goal in the original Rocky
movie. He figures he didn't have a chance to win, so he
made it his goal simply to stay in the fight, not embarrass himself
too badly, not get knocked out. Prior to his shot at the big
fight, he had no goals. But something happened when he set
that first goal, had that first dream. He made discoveries in
the process of pursuing it. He discovered that there was more to
him than he thought. He enjoyed the journey, and that led him
to dream bigger dreams. And of course, in later movies, he went on
to win the heayweight championships of the world."
"Rocky, of course, is a fictional character. But his
journey reveals basic truths about what it means to find
satisfaction in the pursuit of a dream. The process is
everything. Who you become in the process makes a
difference. And if you can find contentment in the journey
toward your dream, if you can answer yes to the Fulfillment
Question then you can go to bed at the end of the day knowing that
you lived the day well, no matter what tomorrow brings."