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Act on your dreams build positive relationships with others
Act on your dreams build positive relationships with others
We live in a time when many people fail to achieve their goals and objectives because they are prisoners within
their own minds. Nelson Mandela the great South African leader spent twenty seven years in prison due to a corrupt
apartheid legal system. He was physically in prison but he was mentally free because freedom is a state of mind.
Mr. Mandela endured the humiliation of being penned up like an animal with little hope of being freed. His movement
was restricted and his options were few. He could have easily given up and escaped into a world of depression and
despair but he did not.
Dr. Maya Angelou once asked the question "why does the caged bird sing?" She said "he sings because he is free."
Genuine freedom is found on the inside. Success will never be achieved until the internal chains of bondage are
broken. When a person truly believes that they will succeed the foundation for success is laid.
The building blocks for success and failure is found in the mind. An African proverb says "what a man thinketh so
is he." The bible says "out of the mouth proceeds blessing and cursing" and it can be said that the seeds of
success and failure resides in the mind. Choosing to succeed rather than to fail is a personal choice.
Dreams originate in the mind and if no action is taken to activate them they will remain in the mind. Positive
dreams which remain in the mind are loss opportunities to make a difference in a world that needs hope and
encouragement.
If Dr. Martin Luther King had only dreamed and failed to act on his dreams, the acceleration of civil rights and
equal rights would have been delayed. Dr. King was a man of action. He achieved a lot in the thirty nine short
years he lived. He excelled because he did not allow his dreams to remain in his mind. He acted on them with
passion and gusto.
Successful people are willing to confront and overcome disappointments because they know that there are usually
roadblocks in realizing dreams. Success comes easy for some people but for most it comes through hard work and
sacrifice. Frederick Douglas the great anti slavery orator and abolitionist who lived in the eighteenth century
said "if there is no struggle there will be no progress."
Success is usually not achieved over night. Rome was not built in a day. It took centuries for Rome to become a
world power. The building blocks for success must be laid on a daily basis. Lasting success is usually achieved
over an extended period of time.
Perhaps the most profound statement about success is that there can be no genuine success if it does not include
the welfare of others. Life is about relationships, it all about how we treat our husbands, wives, children,
uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, friends and foes. How we respond to others will determine the level and the degree of our success.
Positive relations with others are far more important than the accumulation of material wealth.
There is the story of Alexandria the Great the young Greek warrior who conquered the entire known world at the age
of 34. He sought happiness through military conquest and the accumulation of wealth. Historians say that Alexandria
sat down and cried like a baby when he had no more worlds to conqueror. His focus was on material wealth rather
than relationships. He did not live long enough to learn what King Solomon learned in the twilight of his life when
he came to a realization that material possessions are meaningless if there is no sound relationship with God and
our fellow man.
In the final analysis the realization of dreams and the achievement of personal goals and objectives should serve
as a platform to enrich the lives of others. Life is about relationships, the bible says "the whole duty of man is
to serve God and follow his commandments." Serving God means doing unto others as we would have them do unto us.
Any goals, objectives and dreams which do not value the welfare of others are selfish and meaningless and will not
lead to lasting happiness and peace.