Have you noticed? Your life is changing. Typically, when we read about how to deal with life changes, we find a discussion about dreams, visions and goals. But, there’s something better than a dream. Yes, dreams are important, and should not be minimized. Dreams give us a focus, show us where to go, what to find, and what we really want to have, but dreaming is not the most important. The word better doesn’t mean that other things are not good; it just means, in a list of things, there’s one thing better. So, dreams and visions; hopes, ideas and thoughts are necessary, but there really is something better. What is better?

 

Idle or active?

Consider this: there’s a difference between an idle thought and an activated thought. An activated thought decides, moves and is determined. That’s the opposite of a dream, a wish or a hope. A thought never activated is just an idle dead thought. You know the difference.

Imagine…you’re watching TV, and suddenly a commercial for pizza bursts on the scene. Shot one: it’s a steaming pizza close-up, smothered in mozzarella cheese, delicious toppings on golden brown crust coming out of a brick oven on a large spatula. “Yaa-yummm,” says the announcer. Shot two: the pizza slides onto a large plate in the center of the table in front of smiling hungry looking people. Shot three: you see the waiter cutting that pizza into triangle pieces with a rolling knife and hear the surrounding party ‘aaaing’ and ‘ooooing’ and laughing. Shot four: someone lifts a piece of that steaming pizza slowly. What’s this? Some of the mozzarella cheese clings and strings, as the camera slowly closes in on the end of the triangle bending down, begging to be eaten. But suddenly shot five:  the name of the pizza place comes scrolling in, and they invite you to ‘come-on-down.’ Now you’re watching shot six: someone else is eating ‘your’ pizza! Your thought is now filled with desire and vision. You’re not content to remain idle, but you’ve got an idea. Activating that idea gets your ah-hem off the sofa at 9pm…to jump in the car and drive right down to the nearest pizza place. Your mouth still tastes that piece of smothered-with-mozzarella and sauce and toppings and golden crusted pizza pie! Your dream has been activated.

Activate your dream

What’s better than a dream? An activated dream. Yes, the dream is very important, but a dreamer who never gets off the couch to make it happen never sees the reality of the dream. Acting upon the thought is better. The baseball player who never swings the bat never hits the ball. The basketball player who has the ball but never takes the shot never makes the basket to score the points. The man who never asks for the date never gets the date and never marries that beautiful lady. Part of the believer’s action is to pray and ask. The believer who never prays and asks never gets the answer.

“You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2). James also tells us that “faith without works is dead” (2:26). A dream without action is dead. So, partnering our prayers with an activated thought actually gets us off the couch and moves our life forward to greater fulfillment. Do you want greater fulfillment? We remember the famous quote by James P. Lewis: “If we always do what we’ve always done, we’ll always get what we’ve always got.”

Is it time for an upgrade and something better? Here’s one more quick thought. Life is something like a series of scenes in a movie. We are either the director of our own life movie, or something else is imposing scenes on us. In your life movie, are you the victim or the hero? Is life beating you up and defeating you, or are you standing up and overcoming the challenges for the good? Do you really want change to make your life better, to make the lives of your family, friends and community better? It’s time to take that dream, pray for that dream and get off the couch to activate it. Whew! Now I’m motivated! I’m getting up right now for some of that luscious, steaming, stringing, golden crust pizza…and make that dream come true. Anybody want to come join me? Let’s make our dreams come true together!

Steve Davis, Ed.S is an adjunct professor (adult development, research & writing, education leadership), at Trinity International University, Davie, Fl. He is a frequent speaker, writer and voice-over artist and can be contacted at [email protected].