Ways to help make your dreams come true!

Recently we were sitting around playing some Elvis tunes. We’d been thinking about how complicated the world is with everything that’s going on. It’s easy to get discouraged if you listen to the news. We remembered back to rock and roll times when life seemed more simple. Do you recall “Jailhouse Rock”, “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog”? They’re crazy, fun songs with a good beat.

Then some other Elvis songs came up that got us thinking more deeply. One of them is called, “If I Can Dream”. The lyrics were written by Walter Earl Brown and is notable because of words similar to Martin Luther King, Jr’s famous speech, “I Have a Dream”. This song was recorded in June, 1968, two months after Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination.  The song reflects the sadness and hope of the time. Ironically, as we listened to it, it also seemed to fit for what we’re experiencing in the world today. Let’s take a look at some of the poignant lyrics.

The song starts out with Elvis singing,

Other lines are,

Elvis sings about dreaming of “a better land where all my brothers walk hand in hand.”

All through the song, the question is asked, “Why can’t my dreams come true?” There’s also a hint of hope with the words, “Out there in the dark, there’s a beckoning candle.”

Then at the song’s climax, his deep, trembling voice pleads,

Yes, it can feel discouraging with all the conflict in our country, around the world, and sometimes, even in families. This song asks “Why can’t my dreams come true”, so let’s look at ways to help make dreams come true.

Mary Morrissey, author of “Building Your Field of Dreams”, is certainly someone who could have felt “lost in a cloud with too much rain”. Along the way, she probably wondered how her dreams could ever come true.

As a junior in high school, she became pregnant. Her parents weren’t too happy. She quickly got married to her young boyfriend and chose to raise their son. She was forced to go to a different school to finish high school. These things didn’t stop her. She had a dream of making a difference in the world.

However, two months after graduating from high school, she was diagnosed with a fatal disease affecting both kidneys. She was told that she had possibly six months to live. The night before surgery to remove one of her kidneys, the chaplain visited her in the hospital. What the chaplain helped her see was the power of her thoughts.

The chaplain suggested that she would be well again as she visualized the dis-ease of her past being removed the next day, along with the one diseased kidney. Six months later, doctors were astounded that her remaining diseased kidney was functioning normally! She didn’t give up. She went on to graduate school and was even awarded an honorary doctorate. She also met with many world leaders to help make a better world.

Morrissey gave three tips to help make your dreams come true. We’ll pass them on to you.

1. Create a clear and specific dream of what you want. Then visualize yourself living it. “Make your vision so clear that your fears become irrelevant.” Anonymous
2. Refuse to stay discouraged. Everyone can feel discouraged at times. The key is not to stay When Thomas Edison was asked how he could keep going after he had “failed” 10,000 times. He said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
3. In service of your dream, be more interested in growth, than in comfort. Thomas Jefferson said, “To have something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”

What about you? Henry David Thoreau said, “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” We encourage you to use the tips provided and as the song suggests, while you can think and talk, stand and walk, move confidently towards your dream. And let your dream come true – right now!

Chanhassen MN residents, Doug and Lynn Nodland are success coaches and owners of The Balance Center in Excelsior. Contact them at WeCare@SharingLifesLessons.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2022 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.