Believing is Seeing
The great irony of life is that we often waste the present in our attempts to obtain the ideal future. The life we have now is often the result of things we had wished for years ago and yet now it feels lukewarm and boring. Our goals set high, we amble on toward the mysterious future destination that will see the fruition of our dreams.
Another great irony I find is that the present is so crucial to the development and manifestation of the future. The athlete who dreams of the gold medal does not obtain it by idly pasting gold medals on a vision board and wondering what happened four years later. No, she puts in the work, often very unglamorous and under-recognized work. It is early mornings, it is thankless tasks, it is relationship building and it is maintaining vision. It is that oft-quoted Hebrews verse, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
I find it odd when people spend too much time “waiting” for their lives to happen while doing next to nothing to get there. “One day, I’m going to open a charity” says the person who has never volunteered in their hometown. “One day I’m going to live abroad” says the person with an expired passport. One day, one day, one day…
In another piece I wrote about the lives of my parents called, “When Does It All Go South?” I recounted my dad’s “One day” story. One day, he was going to go to Australia. It was a dream destination firmly planted in the future. There were no plans to actually get there, mind you. No money being saved. No rough date set. It was just an idea and one I heard about over and over again. In the end, sadly, my father died of a heart attack in the den of our home… inches away from a coffee table book depicting the glory of Australia. His future never realized, plans never made and a “One day” that quietly faded into the cosmic background radiation of the universe.
Your “One day” starts with the seeds you plant today.
If you want to be the next Oprah, how can you be more confident, charitable and inspiring now? If you want to be a great entrepreneur, how much time did you put in toward that work today? If you want to finally have those six pack abs, how well did you withstand that free basket of chips at the Mexican restaurant? (I just triggered myself with that one…)
We often wait to miraculously arrive on the big platform of fame and destiny meant for us while ignoring the opportunities immediately present in our community to work toward it. I started Womentorship with the goal to help millions. For now, it helps hundreds, maybe thousands… on a good day. In my life coaching and mentoring work, I help tens because of bandwidth and a day job. It is often thankless work, a driving passion with no guarantee of success (much like my failed music career) but I believe even though I can’t see.
I am not yet where I want to be, but I do not discount my present because I know it is the foundation for any future success.
So, what does it look like to be driven by vision?
It means believing when you can’t see it, when the results aren’t there, when you’re so bored of waiting and you want to give up.
It means going with the flow. Putting in the work, but not trying to force a square peg into a round hole. The magic of life, synchronicity, does not appear from brute force — it happens when intent and hard work meet luck and fortuitous timing. It happens, not always in the way you expect or how you thought it would look, but it happens.
It means ignoring petty disruptions in your day to day life. You know what they are. It could be the traffic. It could be the boss. It could be comments on social media. It could be that unsupportive friend who you’ve failed to accept you’ve outgrown. It means judging how much real estate they deserve inside your life and understanding that your purpose is so much bigger than trifling worries. It is ok to get upset. Give yourself an “upset egg timer,” and then after a few hours, dust yourself off and refocus on your vision.
Lastly, it means staying optimistic. Ugh. Such a tough one. Patience has a way of seeing how much we want things. How long are you willing to put in the work and believe? It’s OK to fail and restart. It’s ok to have a bad day. Just remember, negative thinking does not bring about positive results.
If you wish to be the change the world sees, be the change now. Be the change when you’re checking out at the grocery store. Be the change who helps people when no one is looking. Be the change who puts in hard, thankless work driven by vision knowing that hard work builds not only futures, but also, self esteem.
You can’t see it right now, but you can believe it is possible. The only thing stopping you is you. So, what are you waiting for?
