Can We Talk About This For A Sec...

Don't Doubt, Don't Question, Just Believe

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When I was growing up, I wanted to be a marine biologist 🐳. I was probably about seven years old, and I am sure I did not understand what a marine biologist was or did… All I thought I knew was that it was to do with the ocean 🌊, and I thought it meant working with dolphins 🐬 all day.

When I was around ten years old, I believed I could be the next Paula Radcliff 🏃🏼‍♀️ (previously the fastest marathon runner of all time, holding a 16-year world record🏅for the woman's marathon). I found her utterly inspiring and thought I could be just like her when I grew up. (when I think back at this, I don't exactly understand what I was thinking, because long-distance running was not my thing….. at all)

Next, it was a west end star 🌟….after that, a country singer 🤠……then to be an actress in film 🎬.

I don't know about you? but I have had my fair share of big dreams, always shooting for the stars 💫, ever since I could think about a career or what I wanted in life. My dream may have changed many times over the years, but I don't ever remember feeling like they were unachievable, unrealistic or impossible as a child. If I believed I could do it, I believed it could be done.

The older I get, the harder it is to allow myself to dream big. The older we get, the wiser we get, but I feel like the more logical we get about things as well. Sometimes we can get to a point where we start to have all these logical doubting thoughts and questions.

For me, my thought patterns go something a bit like this…..

I want to pursue X, Y or Z; well, what about the cost of that 💵? How am I going to afford to do that? My plan isn't achievable, or I don't have the right equipment. I don't have the experience or the qualifications 🎓. How do I network with the right people? Will people be interested in my venture and what I have to say? How do I create interest? What if I fail and don't succeed? What if I'm not good enough?

And the questions and the thoughts go on and on and on and………… never end 🤯.

I know for a fact that I did not have all these thoughts as a child. I probably only thought about needing a new pair of running shoes 👟 to be the next Paula Radcliffe. Not the very long list of logical reasons why being a marathon runner is totally out of the question.

This made me think how maybe our logical and rational minds get in the way of what we want to accomplish. How often have we not even tried to pursue something because one of the above thoughts shut down the idea?

I have some dreams right now, and it's tough for me not to think logically about them. I could give you a list right now of all the obstacles and reasons why my dream might not come to pass. The danger is that we can so easily and quickly become our own stumbling blocks to achieving our dreams.

I think back to when I was little and wish I had more of that confidence. There were no doubts, no questions… just belief.

There's a movie out called 'Tik Tik Boom', it is a movie based on the musical written by Jonathan Larson, an American playwright and composer. Jonathan Larson enacts this autobiographical piece through monologue and song in the film. Throughout the movie/musical, he keeps circling back to a critical component…. the startling truth that he is nearing the end of his 20s and turning 30 years old and feels like he should be further on in his life and career than he is. The rest of the movie focuses on the process of a musical he wrote called Superbia. ⚠️Spoiler Alert⚠️ after eight long years, Jonathan wasn't able to receive a full production of his musical Superbia.

He spent almost the entirety of his 20s working on a play that went nowhere. I get disheartened if I put an hour of my time into something that ends up being discarded... but eight years?!!!!!

I loved a line in the movie where Jonathan is asked what he does for a living, and he simply responds, "I'm the future of Musical Theatre" Humble much?

The way Jonathan is portrayed in the movie (by the excellent Andrew Garfield, might I add) was so refreshing; he had this childlike faith that, somewhere along the line, I've lost and so desperately want. I want more of that confidence that he had in himself, in his dream…. There were no doubts, no questions… just belief.

Near the end of the movie, we find that another musical did follow on from Superbia called Tik Tik Boom, which is essentially the basis of the film. In the movie's closing moment, we discover that Jonathan is indeed the creator of the hit musical RENT.

After watching the movie, I did a little research into Jonathan Larson and found that he was 35 years old when RENT opened on Broadway after a successful off-broadway run. It is now a world-renowned musical and is the 11th longest-running musical of all time and the winner of 4 Tony Awards, including the highly esteemed Tony, best musical. Do you know what the craziest part of this is….. Jonathan Larson passed away the night before its off-Broadway opening night. He achieved his dream but sadly wasn't there to see its fulfilment. He didn't just accomplish his dream; he wrote one of the best musicals of all time. I'd like to think he knew the success it would be and died knowing he indeed was the future of musical theatre.

Have I sold this movie to you yet??? I bet now you want to see it if you haven't already.

I say all of this to highlight two things.

There will be enough people in the world telling us our dreams are unachievable. Let's not be our own stumbling block 🧱 to success. We need to worry less about the logistics of why trying to do X, Y & Z are a terrible idea. If it is something we absolutely love and are passionate about, if our dream is God-given (that's a whole other blog in itself), go at it with all your might, and who knows, maybe you'll have the next ‘RENT’ in your life. It might take you a couple of trials and errors, but it's all part of the process. If Jonathan had stopped at the first hurdle, we wouldn't have RENT.

My second thought today is this. More than ever, there's pressure to achieve big things in our twenties; we feel like we need to be in a specific place in our lives. Our career 👩🏻‍🏫 … in that dream role 🧙🏽‍♀️ ……. financially stable 💳 ……. married ….. kids 👶, and the more the clock is ticking on our time in our twenties, the more stressed we get that nothing has happened yet. If it's not the big ominous thirty, it's another landmark year we're encroaching. Believe me, I understand; I feel that way every day, thinking things will not fall in place how I want them to. As I mentioned, Jonathan was 35…… for me; that's like 12 years away…. A lot can happen. Maybe it won't be 35. It might be 45 or 55 or 65; there's not a time limit for a dream in your life. There's God's perfecting time, but there's no such thing as out of time. I do not believe if it is a dream from God, we're going to get to an age, and God's like, "oppps sorry you're how old? *sings Countdown music* Yes, sorry, we are out of time, unfortunately."

And so my encouragement is this. What are we going to do when we find ourselves in a place, stressing out about running out of time or in a downward negative thought spiral thinking about our dreams?

I challenged us to pause, think and say to ourselves……

⭐️ Age is but a number

⭐️ I am good enough

⭐️ If at first, I don't succeed….. try again

⭐️ If it's God's plan, it's on God's time

⭐️ I don't need to worry about all the logistical details.

Let these statements become your truth that you believe and when you feel like you are going to stumble over your own negatively, let these statements be your grounding point.

Have confidence …. don't doubt…… don't question…… just believe.