I have a dream. Perhaps one of the most famous quotes in modern history.
It also envelopes a hope we all have. Of realizing dreams. Of knowing today could be the day.
Dreams give us the ability to hold onto the idea of what is possible. They don’t even need to be our own. The hope that someone can provide by simply declaring and sharing their dreams is what separates our existence from all living creatures.
We have the ability to communicate truth. Or destruction. Or fear. But the dreams we have for those beyond ourselves are the dreams that have the greatest impact on mankind.
Sure we all have dreams that are focused on our goals. On our hopes and how they effect oue lives and those we love. Having dreams is sometimes the only thing that keeps us going through the daily grind of life. In a life that can sometimes seem like its sucking the wind out of us in our daily grind, dreams of what could be for our lives can be the only hope for many of us.
But there is something about thinking bigger than ourselves and casting a vision that can effect others that really separates the big dreamers from the little ones.
Dr Martin Luther King Jr was one of those big dreamers. He understood the unifying force that having a dream that was bigger than himself would have on the world and those within it. He understood that having big dreams meant believing what seemed impossible and calling it out into being a reality. He also understood that dreaming big could cost him everything he had- even his life.
That’s how big dreamers play. They play a game of life that few of us dare to venture into. They are willing to not only have a dream, but to declare that dream for the whole world to see. They are willing to be vulnerable by exposing their hopes to the world of naysayers and doubters and to stand in the hope their dream has for others beyond themselves.
Dr King was one of those dreamers. When I listen to that speech 53 years later, it still has immense life in it. That’s the thing about dreams. No one can take them away or the power they have, unless you let them. Dr King held onto his dreams to the grave, yet they still live in the hearts of those who have hope in his dream.
My desire is to dream that big.