Birthing a dream is not for the faint of heart. Obvious statement, I know but I wonder if we truly count the cost of the ventures that we want to start.

Whether it is improving your health, undertaking a new eating plan, starting a business, moving to a new country to begin a new life – whatever it is, birthing a dream is hard. First, there is a plan, a written one but having all the dreams in your head doesn’t cut it. With all the things that we do and the busy lifestyles in which we engage, some things that we catalog in our brains tend to slip through the cracks. Deciding then, what you want to do - your goal- that is the introduction.

After the plan come the steps. Tackling everything at once is a sure recipe for becoming overwhelmed and failing. Develop your plan by completing one task at a time and allow yourself a smile and be thankful that you have accomplished one more thing.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that all will be merry and bright. Pitfalls are as plentiful as dust and they will surface. Some appear on stealthy feet and some knock us flat and steamroll us. Have you ever wondered why we encounter so many obstacles to our goal? Indeed, it sometimes seems as though we may have made a mistake and ought not to have started at all. Pitfalls actually are instrumental in helping you determine the type of person that you are. Do you give up because things are difficult? How about when everything has ground to a painful halt? Are you willing to wait until the pathway opens or do you discard the dream? Is healthy eating too hard, so you return to your junk foods, insufficient rest cycles, and inadequate water intake because you are more comfortable that way and don’t have to think about yourself at all?

Pitfalls have knocked me for a loop quite a few times. I don’t think that I have ever prayed as much as I do now that I am birthing my business on a larger scale. I keep checking myself for chest hairs because I hear that pain builds character and puts hair on the chest. Thankfully, I haven't seen any but I think the good Lord keeps them away for me. I don’t know how people venture to do anything without seeking wisdom and help from God. Whew!

Persistence; tenacity; victory is associated with these. Sometimes, we miss the points of victory because we are so caught-up with everything else. Sometimes, our goals shift without our realizing it (or maybe we do) and we end up in a completely different place. If your end goal is better than the goal that you had on paper, then great! If you have compromised and wheedled your way to the new goal, then… you guessed it; you might need to retrace your steps a bit. You have to be satisfied and feel complete integrity at the end of the day.

Now, after all that, does this mean that we ought not to do tackle these burning visions? Dare we refrain from dreaming, from pushing our baby/babies into the world? If we do not, what legacy will we leave behind? Providing that your dream is beneficial and not a selfish outpouring, ought you not to try to bring it to fruit? Remember that your dream did not come upon you by chance, nor was it just a fluke. It is there for a reason.

I loved the following sign that I saw years ago at Brooklyn College:

“To be is to do To do is to be so Do be do be do"