Dreams are great, but they can become a great excuse

​I told someone recently, I am as positive and hopeful about this new year as I have been about any new year.

They asked me, where does this hope come from? I need some of it.

Well, the truth is, it's not about hope as much as it is about commitment. About focus. About intention.

I have come to realize that I have let my vision for the future, my hopes and dreams and longings, have way too much influence on how I act today. In many ways this has been the story of my life.

Steven Furtick says, "our expectation of the future can be our excuse for quitting right now."

In the midst of a life of frequent distresses, I have always imagined what life would look like without those distresses. And, I have always believed that day would come.

Time and time again, though, that day does not come.

What I have realized the past few months, maybe as clearly as I ever have, this pattern of mine doesn't have nearly as much to do with a future that refuses to arrive as it does with the me who has quit on that future over and over again.

A pattern created not by a year that wants nothing to do with my resolutions, but a me who has failed to be resolute about doing my everything with each day that makes up that year.

Thinking about what I want to happen this year is as simple as a dream.

Making that dream for this year come true is as hard as making the most of every minute I have this day. Doing the things I need to do. Letting go of the things I've long needed to let go of.

Making something of our day is often harder than dreaming. But then seeing our dreams fail to materialize can be harder yet. So we quit both. We quit dreaming AND doing.

My hope this year comes from fully accepting, from fully owning, I have been my own worst enemy in life. I have long heard that voice in my head, but I now hear AND believe.

Dreaming of that day to come has always been my crutch in life. Dreaming of the good life has always been my escape from doing the hard work, every single day, of creating the good life.

Dreams are great, but they can also be a great excuse.

An excuse to overlook the most powerful and potent tool we will EVER have at our disposal.

Today.

Today has little to do with dreaming, and everything to do with doing things and letting go of the things that make dreams come true.

I am as hopeful about this new year as I have ever been about a new year. But it has very little to do with this year, and EVERYTHING to do with today!!