Today I began reading The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho for the second time. He wrote it in response to his pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago. I first read it before I walked the Camino. I suppose it lands even deeper now that I read it after walking the Camino myself. As I think about our life dreams, and encouraging others in pursuing theirs, this passage from the book really speaks to me:

“The good fight is the one that’s fought in the name of our dreams. When we’re young and our dreams first explode inside us with all of their force, we are very courageous, but we haven’t yet learned how to fight. With great effort, we learn how to fight, but by then we no longer have the courage to go into combat. So we turn against ourselves and do battle within. We become our own worst enemy. We say that our dreams were childish, or too difficult to realize, or the result of our not having known enough about life. We kill our dreams because we are afraid to fight the good fight.”

I think that pretty well nails what happens with every person who decides to pursue a dream. We are met with resistance. Resistance from others, yes; but mostly, and most importantly, resistance from ourselves. I find that surfacing time and time again with me. It is a battle, but one that is won decision by decision. We keep walking, stepping forward, moving ahead and refusing to stop because our dreams call to us. They nudge us. And if we wait too long, we grow numb and begin to tune out the very life force that beckons us. Ah, to lose those dreams would be such tragedy. 

So onward, I say, to you and to me. Keep your dream before you and know that you are worthy to reach it. To live it. To fulfill your deepest desires. This is your time for your dream.

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