Don't Have A Dream, Have A Vision

Probably the most famous words to have echoed around the world are "I have a dream". These words have been heard at conferences, sales meetings, church gatherings and motivational course events throughout the world.

Many a motivator, many a self-help guru, many a preacher has yelled, screamed and broadcast as loudly as they can the need to have a dream. "You must have a dream!" Without a dream, it is said, you cannot succeed. Without a dream you have no motivation; without a dream you have no direction; without a dream you have nothing to believe in; without a dream you have no hope.

The one thing that has always struck me about Martin Luther King is he got shot. Not only did Martin Luther King get assassinated, but his dream was also assassinated with him. You see if his dream was something that was suppose to happen, it did not come about. Although people would say that with the election of Barak Obama as President, he got to see his dream.

When I was reading the Bible I came across a verse that said that your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.

When I read those words I was puzzled because a distinction was being made between dreams and visions by associating dreams with old men and visions with young men. There is a distinction between having a vision when you are awake and a dream when you are asleep. But when there is a distinction made between a person being old and a person being young and then associating dreaming with old men and having a vision with young men, there is something else to be understood.

The reason old men dream dreams is they never come to pass. And old people dream about the dreams of their youth. When they were young they had dreams. When they grow old they still have dreams, only they are now dreaming about the dreams of their youth.

Young people who have a vision are different to young people who are dreaming. First of all to have a vision you have to be awake. Secondly, a vision is something that you look towards accomplishing, whereas a dream is merely something that passes in the night. Thirdly, a vision becomes a goal, an aim to be pursued, something in which you invest your energies towards achieving.

Sportspeople do not so much dream about becoming a champion, rather they envisage themselves becoming a champion. Not all sportspeople can win their respective events in the competitions in which they compete. Individuals may outperform other individuals at various times, but sportspeople come into their own and become champions when they perform personal bests. Sportspeople become champions when they better their personal best times or their personal objectives. The more often sportspeople better their personal best efforts, the greater champion they become.

There are champions and there are champions of champions. Just because a person doesn't become a champion of champions does not detract from being a champion. There are many reasons why people can or cannot achieve what they endeavor to do. But the one reason they are able to achieve is because they are young people with a vision of success. They are young people who are able to qualify their vision as being more than a dream. They are young people who are actively pursuing what they see is a possibility for them to achieve. They are young people who can define their goals because their vision is clear.

Dreams are not as clear as visions. Dreams are vague. This is why most people do not remember the dreams they have while they sleep. This is why old people dream about the dreams of their youth. As young people they may have had a dream, only it was not a vision. The dream was not clear like a vision, it was a vague idea. Because the dream was a vague idea, the person did not know how to bring the dream out of the world of uncertainty into the realm of surety. The person did not know what was required to facilitate the dream. Whereas had the dream turned into a vision, not only would the objective been clear, but what was required to achieve the objective would have been clearly defined and able to be achieved.

Don't have a dream. Have a vision. Have a vision that is clear in your mind. Have a vision you can define and work towards with definiteness, and not be like those who wish the dream was more real. With a vision you can hope for something that you can really achieve by faith working through love.


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