This weekend I finished my fourth Mini-Marathon. I was then asked, "Why do you do it?"
"Why?"
My answer... because I want to do something that pushes me...that dares me to go farther. I want to remember what it is like to work for something, something that is hard, and to achieve it. I want to dream bigger and to never accept mediocrity. I want a bucket list that is all about living life.
But most of all...It's because I want to remember that it's OK to dream big. My brother Chris has taught me to never accept ordinary, to never bend to the flow of normal. Below is one of his blog posts that has stayed with me through the years...
Today I asked myself the question: “Why do we dream?”
Why do we dream of a better world? A better life? An exciting adventure? Why do we yearn and long for something more? Something bigger and better than ourselves?
Why do we dream?
As a kid I loved to catch lightning bugs. Running around the backyard with my arms stretched out I would close my hands over the flashing brightness of that glorious bug. With my prey closed tightly in I would run back to my dad, ready to show him my amazing catch. As he leaned over my clutched fists, I would wait for just one second, as if a magician, ready to dazzle his audience. Then, slowly, my hands would open…a smile stretched across my face…my smile beaming as bright as the noonday sun in summer…blue eyes blazing with a shimmer that no lightning bug could ever duplicate…
My hands opened…
Nothing…I held nothing.
Somehow he had escaped. My eyes searched for an answer. How could he have gone? It isn’t fair. My heart crashed deep, mimicking my body as I slumped in utter defeat. It was gone. How could I have missed it? How did it get away?
I hung my head and turned to walk away. I had lost it. It had slipped away.
I come back to the question…why do we dream?
And I know the answer. Here’s why I dream. Here’s why I long for more. Here’s why I keep running after lightning bugs…
Because I’ve been given permission to dream.
With empty hands, I turned to walk away dejected, slumped, and ashamed. My dad’s hand caught me. “Go ahead, Chris, go catch another one.”
“Go ahead, Chris, DREAM.” he said. He might have used different words, but the meaning was the same.
And somewhere along the way, someone has said that to you. Someone told you to chase after another lightning bug. Someone told you to run with wild abandon after your dreams. Someone said “Go ahead, go catch another one.”
Maybe you were lucky, like me, and it was your parents. Maybe it was your teachers, your coach, your friends, or your youth pastor. Maybe it was your grandma. Maybe you don’t even remember who it was. But you were told.
And we all need a reminder every now and then. A reminder that it’s alright to dream, it’s alright to chase after lightning bugs.
So here’s a reminder:
“Go ahead; go catch another one, DREAM…”
