How Long Have You Been Dreaming About This?

There are two types of reactions that you receive when you tell someone that you are “following your dream.” Or perhaps, there are three—but the third type of reaction is really so rare and so fleeting that I struggle to include it as if it is some sort of majority or even a small accumulation.

The first type of reaction is one that is well-intended. It comes from the people who really want to be happy for you, delighted for you—but they just can’t seem to actually be happy for you. Is it fear? Is it the lack of security that unnerves them just enough? Or is it something else entirely? Is it a tucked away, long hidden yearning that wants to jump out from the hole that it has been buried in by society and all that is expected? I’m not sure, to be honest. Maybe it’s none of these. After all, no one has spoken to me the words of disappointment or jealousy or anger, but when they ask their once again well-intended questions, there is no genuine curiosity either. Maybe they just don’t care. And maybe that’s OK.

The second type of reaction is one that is a melding of fascination, authentic excitement, and just the tiniest amount of apprehension. These are the people who are wholeheartedly going to be rooting in your cheering section as you chart your route. These are also the same people who will ask you questions about your dream as if you hadn’t actually realized what you’ve gotten yourself into. Which—to be fair—in this situation I don’t think that there is any way to really understand what it is that we have gotten ourselves into until we are atop of Springer Mountain. These are the people that ask you the basic questions about your endeavor, but their genuine interest also begs to know the random tidbits about your adventure as well; questions that they could only ask if they have experience in the subject, or were willing to do some research. These are your friends, your family. These are the reactions of people who love you, and simultaneously understand the enormity of what it is that you are about to do, and so they ask and they really do ask, but they ask with prudence.

Finally, the third type of reaction, is the reaction that has been my favorite; a reaction that was purely, completely, and altogether filled with love and delight and eagerness and quite frankly the glory of all that God has intended us to be. This reaction has been my favorite. The most bold and beautiful and marvelous and awe-inspiring woman I might have ever met looked me in the eyes and asked me, “So, how long have you been dreaming about this?”

And the answer to that is a long time. A really long time. And we’re finally going to be able to do it, and that’s really cool if you ask me.

Just imagine for a moment—what would happen if instead of doubting, instead of telling our supposed loved ones, “I’ll believe it when I see it,” instead of inherently saying, “You won’t”—what if instead we said, “You absolutely can and I believe in you?”