Resistance is Fertile...

Last week I raised the subject of dreams – daydreams vs. dreams born of passion. The realization of a dream is the hardest thing in the world, and the easiest. Put one foot in front of the other. That’s it. Achievement comes down to one thing, action.

I used to think that there was something mysterious or dramatic about making my “Big Dreams” into reality. So, I kept busy using all the marvelous tools of procrastination to keep myself from ever taking the necessary and fundamentally mundane steps that lead to success. I did laundry, ran errands, worked hard at everything that didn’t support my dream, and I was remarkably good at it all. I would carve out slivers of time to devote to my dream, looking around expectantly for the lightning bolt to strike and inspire me to greatness. Strangely, that miraculous sign never appeared in the sky (with accompanying orchestral score by John Williams), nobody parted any seas (Red or any other hue), and not a damn thing happened.

Along the way, I excelled at various jobs, built a happy personal life, enjoyed some hobbies, traveled and had some good times. But I couldn’t seem to get things rolling with my dream projects, except in fits and starts that fizzled as life got in the way. I wondered why others could do what I seemed unable to achieve. What was wrong with me? Was it fear? Lack of talent? Laziness?

Then I ran across a book that was written just for me. It changed my life because it shattered my illusions about making dreams come true.

“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.”

Steven Pressfield wrote this in “The War of Art,” along with many other utterly brilliant, insightful things about the single greatest threat to creative endeavor, Resistance. You may also recognize it in its sister form, Inertia who keeps your ass cradled in your miserably familiar pond. And there’s their little brother, Self-Doubt, who chips away at your confidence, while cousin Fear paints terrifying visions to keep you from taking the risk to try at all. Great family, and they all live right there, between the ears of every person with a dream, idea, inspiration, or hope.

Pressfield posits that Art is war, an apt metaphor because war is ugly, difficult, and will only be won through perseverance against a plan created and directed by a purposeful leader. There will most certainly be setbacks, losses, and excruciating pain. Some days, just moving forward one step at a time will feel like the hardest thing you’ve ever done. Other days, you will triumph and take territory you never thought to win. Ultimately, the agony of the struggle will lead to victory.

And the next day, you get up and start the next campaign, with a new goal, a new vision, and no end in sight. The difference between a life of frustration and stress and a life filled with wonder is the willingness to embrace the challenge posed by your own dreams and do something about them. That’s right, put in the time day in and day out and you win. You may never be rich or famous, but you will live with more passion, joy and lust for the life you have.

You don’t have to quit your day job to fulfill your dreams, just kick Resistance and her dysfunctional family out of your head and take action. Build your campaign, line up the troops (you on the front line), and start marching toward your goal. Carve out time every day to work on it.

No excuses. No fear. Forward march! Just Think Differently.

When Has Fear Served You?

People daydream about doing great things, but very few of them pursue those Walter Mitty moments toward any meaningful conclusion. Some castigate themselves about indulging in such fantasies, others consider them harmless amusement, a mental vacation from the tedium that infuses so much of our daily routine. I tend to side with the vacation contingent, considering that a good deal of what passes for work is mind-numbingly dull, and a brief foray into the realm of fantasy may be the only way to avoid bolting for the door while screaming.

The trouble arises when people confuse dreams born of soul-deep passion with idle entertainment clothed in an afternoon fantasy, dismissing the former as if they carried no more weight than the latter. Perhaps it’s a failing of vocabulary, or the mistaken belief that the insubstantial is somehow less real than the tangible world. Or it may never have occurred to them that there’s a difference.

I don’t really believe that any of that. Speaking from my personal experience, it all comes down to fear. Fear of failure. Fear of other people’s opinions. Fear of death. Pick your poison. It’s all fear, dressed up a hundred different ways to keep you from recognizing and pursuing the one thing that really cranks your spiritual engine.

That’s not to suggest that one should tear out the door in pursuit of every dream that passes the threshold of consciousness. One needs to spend some time sorting through that dream material to find the real juice. It is true that there are many ideas, but only a few good ones. So it is with dreams.

The subconscious will serve up all manner of options on its grand menu for your consideration. It’s up to us to review them thoughtfully and compile a rich, tantalizing and life-enriching banquet of choices to pursue. Out of that marvelous meal will arise insight, inspiration, and the synthesis of ideas that leads to a further refined understanding of the unique purpose of life for each of us.

The Dream Diner has a wide and varied menu. One word of warning: that sour-faced waiter glaring at you with pen poised over his order pad is just Fear. Blow him off, order the triple-decker chocolate dessert with a rich slice of life. There are no calories here, only opportunities awaiting a dreamer with the courage to seize them.

Dig in and have a second helping. Just Think Differently.