As a high school teacher, I get the pleasure of attending high school graduation every year. Since I teach juniors and have taught seniors, it is always a delight to think of how far the students have grown and what their future may hold. It makes me reminiscent of my graduations from high school and college. In those days, I had big dreams. Some of those dreams were realized. Other dreams are put on hold. Some dreams were a bit ridiculous, like being a Rockette on Broadway, so they have changed, but it has not stopped me from dreaming.
“You’re never too old to begin working on your dreams.” In March of 2007, when my pastor said that quote, I went to a coffee shop and began working on my writing and taking it seriously. I shared my pastor’s words with my mom, and she began to write. Her book was published two years later when she was seventy-eight years old, which was another reminder that I was not too old to work on my dreams. I will not become a Rockette on Broadway, but with my writing, my dreams of today have much more importance.
Many people have dreams. They don’t seem them come to fruition because of obstacles. Obstacles determine if you are just dreaming or if you are setting goals. Obstacles and barriers will always come into your life. It’s not the obstacles or barriers, it’s how you choose to maneuver your life to continue to reach your goal or dream with removing the barriers or getting them out of your way.
There were some parts of my life that had to change. I had to learn to manage my time. I had to learn to say, “No,” to things that were not going to give me any time to write. I had to learn to take risks and go places that would further my writing career. My writing dreams became writing goals.
Managing Time
I’m consistently working on managing my time. I have had a commute to work for the past two years that took almost an hour to get to work and sometimes up to two hours to get home. I found getting to the coffee shop early in the morning before work was my best writing mode; however, I also would sometimes go after work because I wanted to wait out the traffic. The one thing I knew I couldn’t do was make excuses. “Excuses are like butts. We all have them and they all stink.” My coworker in middle school would tell his students that all the time. It hasn’t been easy, but removing the barrier of time has helped me with my writing with articles, blogs, and a newsletter for a group with which I intern.
Time will always pass. How you choose to spend your time will reveal what is important to you. You must manage your time rather than having time manage you. The people who reach their dreams and goals manage their time well. You will always have down time to watch television or to play games, but you must manage how much time you will allow for that.
The Power of NO
Along with managing time, is its close relative of saying, “No,” especially to tasks that invade your time or have little or nothing to do with your talents, gifts, or goals.
One of my flaws is that I can tend to be a people pleaser. In church, that can be a problem. For one, we are to please God, not human beings. For another, it consumes our time which then become a barrier for us to manage our time. If you want to reach your goals, you must say, “No.” People will guilt-shame and gaslight you. Remember, you are aiming to please God and not human beings.
Once I left my career in youth ministry, I learned the power of the word, “No.” I did not use that power when I was in youth ministry, so I wasted a lot of time doing tasks that were not in my gifts. I wasted time doing tasks that I could have delegated to others. I spent time in spaces in my ministry when I could have been building friendships with people my age. I don’t blame the church. I blame me. I should have said, “No.” God took time to rest. Jesus went off by himself. I’m not God or Jesus, so I need to not believe that I can do everything. Doing a task begrudgingly or outside of my talents is not helpful to anyone, especially if you have to eat it. Empower yourself. Say, “No,” and stick with it. When you give yourself the permission to say, “No,” you are saying, “Yes,” to that which matters.
Taking Risks
I used to think I was good at taking risks. I wasn’t. I was safe. Taking risks is not doing something new. It’s taking a step in a direction to help you achieve your goals or make you a stronger person. I was a wimp. I made excuses of why I couldn’t go to writing seminars or join writing groups. The more I took real risks, the better I became at reaching my goals and becoming better at my craft.
I took free Improv classes, of which I wasn’t good, but it taught me to write better, and taught me to make a fool of myself and learn from some of the best people. I went to writing seminars. I went to seminars of how to write screenplays. I met some amazing writers who taught how to write stories, whether they were for the screen or in a book. I went to a writing conference, which changed everything for me. At that conference, I met Kathi Lipp, who is not my writing coach as I’m part of a writing group that gives supports and classes to improve our craft.
It may not seem like a risk to go to a seminar or a conference, but it is. You must realize that in order to reach your goal, you must surround yourself with others who have achieved more than you in your field. Allowing others to critique my work has been scary, but it has always been a benefit. Whatever it is that you need to do, take that risk to make yourself a stronger person and get you one step closer to achieving your goal.
As the high school students cross the stage, I mentally tell them to keep dreaming. As adults, we cannot stop dreaming and setting goals. The world needs are talents and gifts. It is with our talents and gifts that people will meet Jesus. We are halfway through the year 2023. Now is the time to begin to start working on your dreams and goals. You are not too old. You are not too late. Your goals and dreams may have changed, and like me, you’re not a Rockette on a Broadway, but your dreams and goals today will make a difference in a life in the future.
