When Your Dream Hurts

Have you ever had a dream that didn’t turn out the way you imagined? {I hope this isn’t just me}

You dream of being married, contentment, love, romance…But marriage is hard work…choosing love despite feeling it.

You dream of being  a sports super-star…But practice, injury, and team politics make the reality of the dream a lot less rosy than the dream itself.

You long to write…But critiques, rejections, platform building all move slow and snail-paced. You never knew what it took to be a writer.

You desire children fully believing that being a mom will fulfill you…But reality sets in…Kids are blessings, but have minds and wills of their own. Your perfect family crumbles in the face of reality.

Good marriages, healthy families, and writing careers are dreams that are attainable…{A sports superstar is less likely, but possible too} But the reality is that all take hard work and discipline.

Dreams hurt when we want the fullness of our dream without the work it takes to fulfill our dreams. If we see our dreams as processes, not destinations, then we can do the hard-work with joy. Joy comes knowing that the process is what makes our marriages strong, our writing better, our game sharper, and our families healthier.

However fulfilling dreams also takes sacrifice and humility. Both of these things can dampen joy unless we remember that sacrifice and humility are stepping stones to building our dreams – and stepping stones to becoming more like Christ. It is in the letting go that we can let God do His thing. It is in the letting God that dreams in process become reality and the process itself becomes joy.

What do you do when your dreams hurt? Will you share with me?