The First Step

"It’s a dangerous business going out your front door…"

Dream castles are so beautiful. There’s no way of denying that. But just how beautiful are they?

It’s easy enough to sit in the comfort of your own house, lying on the couch or sitting in a nice Laz-E-Boy chair, to dream up castles. It’s easy to think to ourselves that these castles are worth so much to us—that our very lives will cease to exist if we can’t somehow make it to those dream castles.

And we lie there… And we sit there…

“That castle is so beautiful, if only I could get there.”

And we lie there… And we sit there…

“Why can’t I make my dreams come true? Why are they so far out of grasp?”

And we lie there… And we sit there…

And as we lie there and sit there our dreams slowly lose their luster. They, like so many other dreams, just fade away. And why?

Because we were too lazy to get up and do something about it! How beautiful are our dreams if we are not even willing to get up out of chairs and set down the road? We can’t even begin to imagine going this way, that way, or every way without first realizing that a dream is worth it. And any dream that really is worth it will move us to action, not just words (for we can all say “Yes! This dream is beautiful enough to pursue!” and still remain at home)!

It is for this reason that actions speak louder than words. It is never enough to think a dream is worth it; it is never enough to say a dream is worth it. It is only enough to act—to believe that a
dream is beautiful enough to take action on it.

Does that mean that we jump straight to action though? Does that mean that we should, at every dream, drop all that we are doing and set out down the road?

No. Not ever dream is worth getting up off the couch for. In fact, most dream really aren’t. But what about the ones that are? What about those dream castles whose path and call to action are irresistible? What about those dream castles that we know we cannot live without? Do we get off the couch, run through the door, and just take off going this way? that way? every way?

No. If a dream is beautiful enough to move us to get off of the couch, then it is beautiful enough for us to carefully think the path through. We have to decide which way to go, we have to decide to set out this way, that way, or every way, but not without thought. It is not enough to act for the sake of acting.

But, we cannot never act. We cannot let the dangers lurking down the path—the obstacles that stand in the way of our goals—keep us from ever acting. There are and always will be witches to ward off and dragons to slay along the way. But that doesn’t mean we don’t ever start down the path. Any dream castle worth walking into the door of has to be worth risking our lives for. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take some time to prepare ourselves for those obstacles. Who knowingly sets out to slay a dragon (and thus win the heart of a princess) without taking along a sword?

That is something that I struggle with when I decide to go after a dream castle. It happens all too often, that when I see a dream castle beautiful enough to fight for, I hesitate too long. I spend too much time sharpening the sword and worrying about the dragon rather than setting out to face the dragon. Too often, I use the obstacles down the road to prevent me from taking on the greatest one: my own front door.

Acting without any plans leads to failure thorough rash action; planning without any actions leads to failure through inaction.

I’ve lost too many dreams because the opportune time had passed when I had final decided on the best plan of action. By then, there was no hope of reaching my dream castle because I had hesitated to long.

So where is the equal balance? How much should we plan out our paths before setting out the front door?

I wish I had the answer. But maybe there is no answer? Maybe, just maybe, part of the journey is learning from this imbalance? Could it be that part of the mystery of the adventure comes from learning how much to prepare for and how much to just accept?

I think so. I think that action without planning is learned along the way. As somethings come up that weren’t planned for, I learn to plan better for the next obstacle. As plans for things begin to fail, I accept that there are somethings that cannot be planned for and just have to be faced.

Either way, I still have to get off the couch and set out the front door. I am slowly learning to be more of a man of action than a man of talk. Actions speak louder than words, and it’s time for me to start shouting!

Bear with me as I gather my courage and open the front door. I take the first step… and now I’m on my way… this way… that way… every way…