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.