In the first part of this series of Living the Dream, I challenge the listener to dream. This means I am actively encouraging you to be intentional, purposeful, and decisive about the act of dreaming. Rick Warren has put this beautifully in his Time to Dream: Trusting God to Open Doors when he said our dreams define, identify, and energize us.

Great and good dreams determine who we are. In life, there are times when we find we are either gifted to do certain things or we may be drawn to, interested in, or called to do; however, patterns or cycles keep stopping or delaying us from achieving these aims. In my life, I have figured out that there have been several opportunities given me that I have not used as a result of these same things that keep happening. Anytime you notice these cycles present themselves, it is a sign that they are meant to either delay or prevent you from moving further in life. Firstly, identify them and then deal with them in order to rise above the factors that keep stopping you from progressing.

This is why in Dare to Dream, I look at naming some of these obvious things that stop us from dreaming namely: procrastination, not using our gifts/talents, fear of taking risks, lack of strategy, fear in commitment, doubts, unforgiveness, knowledge, bitterness, anxiety, adversity. Note that whether intrinsic or extrinsic factors, they still impact us. Our dreams motivate us; therefore, if your dream does not scare you, it is simply too small. Make your plans so big you cannot achieve them without God. Dare to dream.