Three Simple Rules in Life

Something I saw today. I think it's very true. What about you?

Identity

Who are you?

How would you answer this question?

Who do you say you are?

This is something that a lot of us don't really give much thought to. We define our identities by our occupations, relationships, hobbies, gender and a whole slew of other things. But do these things really encapsulate who we really are?

Perhaps the question is are these things we define ourselves with in line with reality or what we wish were true of ourselves?

The story is told of a young circus elephant that was attached by a heavy chain to a large stake driven into the ground. No matter how this elephant pulled and strained he couldn't free himself of the chain or the sake. After struggling for several days eventually the elephant gave up. He learned that he could never pull free. From then on the elephant no longer needed to be chained. In fact, the chains were replaced with a slender rope. As the elephant grew, his strength naturally got greater. He was so strong in fact that he could have easily pulled down the circus tent if he had wanted to. But because of his early training he believes he cannot break the rope, let along pull down a tent. Unfortunately, the circus where this elephant worked caught on fire one day. Instead of breaking his tender bonds and escaping to freedom, the elephant stayed tied to the stake, trumpeting for his life and eventually burning to death.

Tragic story, but I tell it to make a point.

So many of us are like this elephant. We have a mountain of potential stored up in us. But because over time we have been told over and over that we can't, we start to believe. We are told by people around us that we can never succeed. We are told that dreams never come true. We are told that money is for the greedy. We won't ever be rich. And after years and years of having these messages drilled into us, we start to believe it. And what's worse some of us even start to propagate these untruths and pull others down.

Truth is God has created each of us for a purpose, otherwise we wouldn't be alive today. And within each of us there is a great potential for greatness.

The hard part is realizing this greatness, daring to dream again, and then coming up with a solid plan on how to achieve our goals and visions. But just because something is hard doesn't mean it's impossible. And just because we've been told our whole lives that we can't doesn't mean that our dreams can't become reality.

So if no one has ever given you permission to dream, I give you that permission to dream. As someone great once said, "Dream big, because you will never be bigger than your dreams. Think big, because you will never be bigger than your thoughts."

Dreaming

Why are so many of us afraid to dream?

Zig Ziglar told a story of fleas in a jar. You put fleas in a jar and put a lid on it. The fleas instinctively begin to jump, repeatedly hitting the lid in their attempt to escape. After about 20 minutes of constantly bashing their heads against the lid, they learn that they cannot escape and stop jumping as high as they originally did in order to avoid smacking their heads.

At this point you can remove the lid and the fleas will continue to jump at the same height, never escaping the jar. They conditioned themselves to BELIEVE that they can never escape the jar, so they just stop trying.

So many of us are like these fleas. We have bought the lie. From a young age we are taught that the path to success is to study hard, so we can get into good schools. Then we can get a degree and find a good job. Work hard at the job for 45 years and then we can retire.

We have conditioned ourselves to believe that this is the only way and that we can only get so far. Maybe you tried to go for your dreams, but were just met with pain and disappointment. So you have stopped dreaming of bigger things outside of this. You traded your dreams for security.

But what if there is another way? What if the "lid" isn't there? What if you can really accomplish and have everything that you've ever wanted and wished for?

What would you do if you had all the money in the world and time to do whatever you wanted?

Have you ever even thought about it?

Or have you taught yourself to only go as high as it doesn't hurt.

Friends! The LID is only there if we choose to put it there.

Working 45 years for retirement is NOT the only way. Dreams can and DO come true.

Problem is do you dare to dream?