I lived with an unfulfilled dream for about 35 years. What kind of unfulfilled dream are you living with? Is it a dream about marriage, parenting, health, business, travel or public speaking? I’ve heard that we need a dream that motivates us, gives us hope, and captures our hearts. My purpose is to encourage you to hold on to your unfulfilled dream. A metaphor of encouragement is pouring gasoline on a fire. Our dreams are the fire. Encouragement acts like gasoline to make our dreams burn brighter and stronger. I want to pour gasoline on your dream, to encourage you to hold on to your dream.
While in India in January I saw printed on the back of a motorcyclist’s t-shirt: Imagine, Believe, Achieve. However small your dream is, I want you to imagine it. I want you to believe that it will be fulfilled though you don’t know when, where, how or with whom; and I want you to identify what actions you can take to pour gasoline upon your dream to achieve it.
Imagine the fulfillment of your dream. My dream was to visit an ancestor’s grave in Muscat, Oman. I don’t remember when the idea first came to me, but I do know that I wrote a letter in late 1984 to the Omani embassy in Washington, D.C. to inquiry about visiting the country. Over the years the idea morphed into a dream. It kept surfacing in my mind. I concluded that no relative had ever visited his grave. I wanted to visit it in honor of his short time of service. About a year ago, I found an online photo of the grave and I was able to imagine standing next to it. What dream has captured your imagination? Seek out those things or persons who can help you pour gasoline on your imagination.
Believe in the fulfillment of your dream. In the movie Saving Private Ryan, James Ryan returns to France to visit the grave of Captain John H. Miller who led the team of soldiers to search for and bring him home safely. If James Ryan could return to France to visit Captain Miller’s grave, why couldn’t I visit my ancestor’s grave in Oman? I believed that visiting his grave would honor his legacy in the present generation— and somehow deepen my desire to serve with the same kind of devotion. I think of the ancient musician who sang, “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”(Psalm 37:4) Believe in your dream.
Achieve your dream. We can’t control everything in life, but there are some things that we do have control over and when we initiate those things, we pour gasoline on our dreams and move closer to their fulfillment. I prayed. I did research about my ancestor. I talked to people who wanted to go to Oman or had been to Oman. I put the trip on my bucket list and talked to my wife about the trip. Later, I also talked to my youngest brother who got onboard with the idea of doing the trip together. This brother invited another brother to join us on the trip. Reservations were made in December and visa applications were submitted. We departed for Oman on January 19th and on Saturday January 25 my dream of visiting our ancestor’s grave was fulfilled. My brother added stops in Egypt and India that were not part of my original dream. Dreams do come true. Mine did. I believe you can achieve your dream.
What unfulfilled dream has captured your imagination? Though you do not know how, when or with whom the dream will be fulfilled, believe it can and it will happen sometime. Decide to do things that you have control over to pour gasoline on your dream to move you closer to its fulfillment.
On the return flight home I saw and heard the Qatar Airways advertisement state on the TV monitor, “We believe in dreams because we’ve seen them come true.” Even though visiting my ancestor’s grave lasted only about 15 minutes on an eleven day trip with two brothers, I saw my dream come true and I believe now even more that dreams do come true. Pour gasoline on your dream.