A dream comes true slowly and then all at once

​Earlier this week, I Iistened to Rich Roll interview Alexi Pappas. She's a distance runner who represented Greece in the 2016 Olympics. Pappas recently wrote a book, Bravey, in which she talks about losing her mom to suicide when she was five, overcoming her own battles with depression, and embracing pain on the way to making dreams come true.

About chasing dreams, Pappas says confessing them is one of the bravest things we can do. Because when we confess them, we've suddenly opened ourselves up to the possibility they'll never come true.

It made me wonder, how many of us have quit dreaming for that very reason. How many of us have found it easier to NOT dream than face the possibility - and maybe the reality too many times - that not all dreams come true.

How many of us have lost the courage to say, oh I want this...

Whether it's dreaming of seeing our book on the shelf of a bookstore, crossing the finish line of a 100-mile race, a dream job or relationship, a trip to some far away place or maybe it's simply imagining the kind of mom or dad we want to be to our kids, how many of us have quit having those dreams because they might not come true?

I love listening to people like Alexi Pappas. Because she wasn't always an Olympic athlete. She was once a dreamer just like me. She was simply brave enough to confess her dreams.

Pappas said something else about dreams that was powerful. She said, "A dream comes true very, very slowly and then all at once. A lot of it is unglamorous. It's on us to keep making the decisions that will be in our favor, including when we have a setback."

I think too often we do admit our dreams, but then at the first hint of a setback we pack it in. Oh have I been there a time or two.

I think about my writing. I remember being an elementary school student staring at a graded writing assignment that had "this is very creative" written at the top of the paper in bright red letters. I think that was the first time I wanted to be something.

Along the way of being that something, I had people tell me things and I've told myself things that have led me to believe that something is a waste of time, that's a dream that will never happen.

But for decades - very, very slowly - I've been writing. And today, I believe more than ever one day soon that dream will come true, all of a sudden.

I'm convinced this world needs the dreams we are all holding onto to come true. This world needs you to chase your best self. The world needs you to be brave enough to do that.

So, please, admit what you want.

Surround yourself with people who believe you can get it.

And then, every day, make choices that will be in favor of that dream come true.