Obstacles and Dreams

 

I was really inspired by Randy Pausch’s talk.  The most memorable quote that he said was, “Remember, the brick walls are there for a reason.  The brick walls are not there to keep us out.  The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.  Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.  They’re there to stop other people.”  As I look back on my life, I see that the best things that I’ve accomplished so far have been things that have been behind brick walls. 

One example of this would be getting my degree.  I’ve hit many brick walls along the way, but each time I keep coming back to it when given the opportunity.  While it has taken longer than I thought it would I feel that it is a blessing.  Because it hasn’t come easily and I’ve had to wait, I have a greater desire to learn.  My motivation for going to school now is not just to get the grades and the diploma.  My motivation now is the learn everything I can.  Sometimes that requires me to go back a redo an assignment that I won’t get credit for, just to make sure that I understand what I did incorrectly.  It means not rushing through assignments to just “get them done”, but taking my time to understand ways that I can apply this new information in my life.  I’m having a much better experience because of all the obstacles I’ve had to overcome.

I feel that having dreams is so important.  There would be no creation if there weren’t dreams.  In Elder Uchdorf’s talk, Happiness, Your Heritage he says, “The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. . . We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy. . .One of the ways we find this is by creating things.”  In order for us to create, it must start with a thought, or said another way, a dream.  We see in our minds eye what we wish to create.  That’s why it’s so important to identify our “star”.  This helps us to create in our mind where we want to go and then we start seeking things that will chart us on a course to obtain it. 

When I was younger, one of my most desired dreams was to travel.  I grew up in California and my dad worked for the state, which meant we never moved.  I was always so envious of the children whose parents were in the military and got to move a lot.  I thought it would be so exciting to meet new people and experience different cultures.  I can see that I’ve attracted that to my life.  When my husband asked about whether he should look at pursuing more education at a university across the country, I was so excited.  To me it was a manifestation of my childhood dream.  We’ve been blessed to live in several other places since then.  I now have my mind’s eye on the rest of the world.  My husband and I just recently had a conversation about this and we’ve decided that we will plan a trip to someplace we’ve always wanted to go.  I feel that by doing this, we will attract this opportunity to us and will fulfill one of my childhood dreams.