We identify the goal, invest both effort and time to achieve our dream only to find that it was illusive? The fulfillment of that dream led us to another dream, another challenge, and another unfulfilled opportunity. The pursuit for more always steals our passion, our energies and our ambition. What we subsequently discover is that the fulfillment of one dream leads to the next.
Do you remember the lyrics to “My Illusive Dreams” sung by Tammy Wynette? At some level, it could be the story of any of our lives:
“I followed you to Texas, I followed you to Utah We didn't find it there so we moved on I followed you to Alabam', things look good in Birmingham We didn't find it there so we moved on
I know you're tired of following, my elusive dreams and schemes For they're only fleeting things, my elusive dreams I had your child in Memphis, you heard of work in Nashville We didn't find it there so we moved on
To a small farm in Nebraska, to a gold mine in Alaska We didn't find it there so we moved on And now we've left Alaska, because there was no gold mine But this time only two of us moves on
Now all we have is each other and a little memory to cling to And still you won't let me go on alone”
When does a sense of contentment, satisfaction and fulfillment begin to characterize one’s world? Aren’t those questions that we all struggle to answer? At some level, innate in who we are, is the desire to be successful. For each of us, the dimensions of what that looks like takes on different characteristics.
My six-year old grandson has never met a stranger. He comes across as a likeable kid with a heart of gold. His is generally the personification of contentment and joyfulness. He loves music and he passes a lot of time singing to himself. Under the auspices of “whistle while you work”, Jake often sings to himself while he’s engaged in play. Sometimes he makes up his own songs. Sometimes he sings the songs of others. He is a cute kid and “happy-go-lucky” is how he rolls.
Wednesday evening, I asked Jake to sing a song. He responded by asking “What do you want to hear?” He opened the music selection on the “hand-me-down (inoperable) Apple phone that he carries and showed me his music collection. I was impressed. He pointed to his collection of music and said, “I can sing any of these”.
How does a six year old know the lyrics to so many songs? It is a stretch for me to successfully get through a verse of “Happy Birthday” without forgetting the words. He somehow has the knack of putting to memory the lyrics that he hears.
Prior to Wednesday night, I had never heard of TobyMac and I had never heard the song, “Speak Life”, but Jake is familiar with both and he has the song down to memory. Wow! I was impressed. Even now as I write this I can see Jake’s face as he was singing the chorus:
“When the sun won't shine and you don't know why. Look into the eyes of the brokenhearted; Watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope, You speak love, you speak... You speak Life, (oh oh oh oh oh oh) You speak Life. (oh oh oh oh oh oh)”
Hoping his answer would be “yes”, I asked: “Jake do you plan to go into the music business when you grow up? His response was, “Maybe, but if I do, I want to be the main person.” That put a smile on my face. Even in the innocence of childhood, don’t we want to be at the top of the leader board? Nobody wants to play second chair in the orchestra.
Fame, fortune, things, influence, power, control, success in every dimension of life – Aren’t those the things we innately pursue? Perhaps it would serve us well to remember the short story “How Much Land Does A Man Require?” written by Tolstoy about a peasant farmer who becomes obsessed with owning more land. Offered the opportunity to own all the land he could walk around in a day’s time, he took the challenge. Of course, failing to return to his starting point in a day’s time would result in loss of the purchase price he was paying. He like many of us, simply ran out of time. In a panic to make it back to the starting point, he collapsed from exhaustion and died. The only land he really required was enough for his burial.
"The he told them, 'Be careful to guard yourselves against every kind of greed, because a person's life doesn't consist of the amount of possessions he has." (Luke 12:15)
All My Best
Don