I have been thinking a lot lately about what leads some people to phenomenal success, while others, equally smart and with similar education and experience, languish in obscurity. I can't prove it, but I think the difference might be at least partly down to vision.
You have to see the possibilities before you can claim the opportunities. So simple, so obvious, yet so difficult to do in real life.
Many years ago, my son attended a Vacation Bible School at a small new church which met in a community resource center. There were maybe fifty kids, and they had a fun week learning about the Bible. At the end of the week, the pastor spoke briefly about what they had learned, and even in those few minutes, I realized that he was something special.
Today, that church has over 15,000 members and four campuses. It is growing by leaps and bounds, largely built on the power of that pastor's dream. He had the vision to see the possibilities in the community and capitalize on them to bring people together for a greater purpose. While churches around them are shrinking, this Methodist congregation continues to grow and thrive.
Pastor Hamilton not only saw the need, he had a vision for how much greater they could be if they met the need. He was not afraid of change, he embraced it. He didn't drag people along, he carried them forward on the strength of his enthusiasm for the opportunities he saw ahead. The ability to inspire others to grab the opportunities is, in my mind, greatness.
I think every true innovation started as a vision. While people scoffed, seeing only obstacles, the dream took shape because the creator had not only the dream, but the belief in success to overcome temporary failure. After all, every success has failure in its foundation. It is one of the building blocks of creativity, because it allows you to redirect and make the necessary changes to build the solid base.
I have been thinking about my own life in these terms. I hate change. It is hard for me to break out of the comfortable pattern and do something new or unfamiliar. I don't embrace opportunities. I wait for them to run me over, and then maybe drag me along. It is hard to change the world, even your own tiny part of it, when you are constantly looking backwards.
But sometimes change is good. Sometimes you need to trust your vision. Once in awhile you need to believe in your own dreams.
This is the time of year when speeches are made, encouraging graduates to go forward boldly into their future. It is good advice, and not just for the young. You can move ahead with confidence at any age, as long as you have a vision and a dream for what is possible.
As I look at my life from the mid-point, (more or less,) I wonder about the possibilities. Do I remain comfortable and content in my set pattern, secure in the familiarity of it all? Or do I embrace the opportunity to change and grow and expand my life in a new direction?
Like most creative thinkers, I have always seen the possibilities. Grandma Moses was 78 when she started actively painting. Frank McCourt didn't begin his writing career until he was 65. Peter Roget created the thesaurus when he was 76. Harlan Sanders was 66 when he founded Kentucky Fried Chicken. Age is a number, not a limitation, unless we allow it to confine us. These people, all older than me, saw the possibilities and created the opportunity to become successful. If you are going to have a role model, why not choose someone worthy of the name? I think any one of these people is an inspiration to us all.
I am a grandmother, and I am thinking more and more about how my grandchildren will know me. Who will they think I am? Will they see my life as a comfortable compromise? Or will they see me as an adventurer, a daring do-er, someone who reached out and grabbed life with both arms? Will they see me as a try until I succeed kind of woman? Or as a cautious failure?
I am sure very few people will say their life looks like they thought it would when they were 20. That is not a bad thing. For many, me included, I think real life is far better, even if not as glamorous as imagined. But there are always lingering dreams, visions of what could be, if only we could summon the courage to risk failure.
Perhaps one day I will reach out and grab for the brass ring of opportunity. I will increase my vision for how much greater things can be if I am willing to work for it. I will choose positive change when the opportunity presents itself, and try to inspire others to do so as well. I may never be great, I may never change the world, but I will consider my possibilities, and be the best I can be.
That is the true vision, and the true definition of success. By that measure, I will not fail.
