Maybe one dream isn't enough for you.
I don't just dream. I research. I plan. I imagine. I hope.
I go all-in.
And when I'm done dreaming about that particular dream, I don't mind putting it away and moving on to my next big dream.
Then, I research. I plan. I imagine. I hope.
I never thought it was an issue. I loved lots of things. I was creative. I loved options and lists. I needed to have choices. I loved being able to be able to close one door and open another. Over time, though, I started hearing voices that didn't think this was a gift at all. They called me a Quitter. Unsuccessful. Indecisive. Insecure.
Listening to the voices, I would stick with things much longer than I wanted to, just to try to appease them. Just to try to prove that I wasn't a quitter. To prove I could be successful. To prove I could make a decision.
The problem was that all of the time I spent trying to prove to people that I could do just one thing and do it well only made me feel more unsure of my actual gifts and potential.
One dream has never been enough for me. But maybe the world needs more dreamers who know it's ok to dream. I've always loved when Paul says,
"Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone,to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings," (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).
From the time we were little, we've been asked the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
The older we get, the more we're expected to have an answer to the question.
But if you have ever felt like one answer to the "What do you want to be..." question made you feel:
- Boxed In because you have multiple passions,
- Indecisive because you don't want to choose the wrong thing,
- Like a failure because you aren't living up to someone's expectations,
- Like a quitter because you love exploring different dreams and avenues,
- Like you've missed your chance...
Emilie Wapnick says that we haven't missed our callings.
She calls us "Multipotentialites."
How freeing is that?
All of a sudden, those of us who don't want to have felt stuck beneath the pressure to a achieve a single title or enter a particular field or have one driving identity get to be identified by the very fact that, when we grow up, we want to be more than just one thing.
God is creative.
He loves variety. If He didn't, He wouldn't have made us all so very different from one another--with different gifts, different passions, different looks, different callings.
My beautiful friend, Ashley, is always encouraging me to let who God made me be enough--not to let myself be lost beneath someone else's calling or inside of someone else's vision.
What about you?
Have you felt bound by the "What do you want to be when you grow up?" question? Have you realized the incredible potential that you have in the unique life God has given you?