Dream Stoppers

I picked up a recent copy
of Readers Digest yesterday
and was struck by a quote.

"If your ship
doesn't come in,
swim out to it."
Jonathan Winters

This caught my eye because
one of my biggest pet
peeves is hearing people
moan and groan about
what they want to do
or be and how it can
never happen for them.

I guess it is harder for
some to see past obstacles
to the goal.

How many times do we let
the molehill feel like a
mountain on the way to our
success.

I once knew a young woman
who desperately needed to
move out of the circumstances
she found herself in.
As a single mother she was
struggling with living at
home with her mother.

Neither of them were happy.

I was friendly with both and
heard both sides regularly.

One day the door of opportunity
swung open wide for this
young woman. It was thrilling.

She choked.

All of a sudden the tiniest challenges
became insurmountable and she turned
down the opportunity.

Thankfully, she did this in my
presence and got a "pep talk".

She got back on the phone and things
worked out beautifully.

This has always stuck in my head as
an example of the power of fear and
uncertainty. The hesitancy to move
forward.

I have experienced that in my own life.
"What will those people think?" or
"How can I really do that?"

If the goal is important enough
it is interesting to see what
really big challenges can be wrestled
and won.

When Warren's father needed to go into skilled
nursing care within 24 hours and was in a
hospital in York some major mountains were
moved in a very short period of time.
It would have been easy to just let things
take their own course but we knew, in our hearts,
that he and Georgia needed to be close to us.

The hospital was beginning the process of
finding him a place in York.
But...

There is a nursing facility close to our home
and we attempted to get them to take Gene.
Everyone we talked to told us
that it was impossible.
They are the hardest facility to get into.

The facility was gracious
but turned him down.
Now what?!?
We knew he was supposed to be here.
I asked one more question,

"Why was he turned down?"

The answer turned out to be that
they had old information about his
condition. Granted it was only a day old
but he had improved enough to be reconsidered.

The hospital and the facility talked.
Gene was IN!
Praise the Lord!
It took just that one more
question.

A tunnel through the mountain that
stood so firmly in our path.

The impossible was possible!

When you know, just know, that you are supposed to
do something and it seems impossible...
Trust...and do...until it happens,
or until you know that
it was not what you were supposed
to do.

Don't give up at the first obstacle.
That is just the test to see how
much you believe in that dream.
How badly do you want it?

Go for it!

"If your ship
doesn't come in,
swim out to it."
Jonathan Winters