Number 8 – On the Fly, Four Wheel Drive

Before we stepped towards the goal or into the dream, life was for the most part, smooth.  It’s like traveling on the expressway.  If you commute or travel on a regular basis using a multilane route, you know that traveling at 70 mph, slight steering adjustments to manage lane changes and cruise control makes for an easy ride.

Likewise, before stepping up and out, life was routine.  The hands on the clock continued to move about the face while repeated, comfortable and familiar behaviors filled the space between tick and tock.

Motivation was low at the start of the week and increased as the calendar pages turned towards Friday because living without passion leaves us only looking forward to weekends.

And while present in our body, our mind disengaged from purpose and focus, the periodic nudge brought us out of the daydream into the mundane.  It didn’t take much to maintain this course.

Like in the commute, when travel conditions are good, well-paved surfaces make it easy for the two-wheel drive automobile to power the movement and keep momentum.  Those clearly defined lanes keep us safe and allow traffic to move in the same direction at a steady pace.  We drive in a semi-conscious state that is marked by exit ramps, mile markers, and other road signage, that are the visual click tracks to the rhythm of our life.

Before stepping out, we worked the system to relieve the bumps in the road.  We removed conflicts and dulled conviction, then built fences to keep adventure out and us within.  It’s safer to live without the dream.   Our semi conscious state of mind makes it easy for us to follow the crowd at a steady pace as we pass the signs along our path that mark the years, opportunities missed, and regret dismissed because our hearts have grown complacent.

Yes, before you stepped towards that goal or into that dream, life was pretty much on automatic pilot.  There was no need for on the fly, 4-wheel drive.

Ready yourself.  The dream will take you off road.  This new terrain will require more power and torque from the drive train.  There are no short cuts or expressways in the dream.  You haven’t been this way before.  You will need traction to climb hills, two hand placement on the steering to keep balance and maneuver around obstacles, and forward focus to calculate the distances and difficulties.

Writing this reminds me of when we bought a Toyota Tundra with 4-wheel drive while living in the mountains of northern California.  I enjoyed that truck and the fact that I could put it in and out of 4-wheel drive, without stopping and starting was a valuable tool in bad weather and rough terrain. Pulling the weight of our horses up steep hills was made easy because all I had to do was know when to engage the power and then follow through.  I climbed into that truck and sat confidently knowing this machine would get me where I needed to go.

I want to remind you that the dream, the goal, the change is going to demand us to maneuver the new path with knowledge and follow through.  There will be no cruise control on this journey and who really wants it? Dreamers look for the opportunity to be free from having restrictor plates on our hearts.  Yet, it is the follow through that will add the strength, power and confidence we need to make this journey.

Dreams are for the brave hearts—those who are willing to do what it takes to build strength and then engage that strength when the terrain gets tough.  When we step into the dream, we need to have, on the fly 4-wheel drive.