Dream small – and grow bigger

I was a university student back in “the dark ages” otherwise known as the 1980s.

We had a number of tremendous speakers come through our campus, and we heard a lot at that time about dreaming big dreams and taking on big challenges with the goal of living a life to make a difference.

The remarks of one stand out to me to this day: “If your dreams don’t scare you when you go to bed at night, then your dreams are too small.”

I think most of us would really like to believe and to feel that our lives and our living matters – that who we are and what we do as well as what we have done has significance.

Some of us may dream of big things, of solving big problems, of facing down life’s greatest giants.

Some days we may be on track to do that depending on the opportunities before us.

Other days – not so much.

Maybe it is on those days we need to take to heart the ideas that singer and songwriter Josh Wilson outlines in a new song entitled “Dream Small.”

Wilson writes, “Dream small. Don’t bother like you’ve gotta do it all.”

He continues with a thought that we should “live well” which he defines as “loving God and others as yourself, finding little ways where only you can help with his great love.”

In that song Wilson advocates for the power of small acts and seemingly small decisions to make a difference. “It’s visiting the widow down the street. Or dancing on Fridays with your friend with special needs.”

What Wilson is about in the song is reminding us that small acts count.

That words spoken in kindness matter. That slowing down long enough to help a neighbor or to pay extra attention to a child can make for long-term positive impacts.

One of the ways that I think small things or small dreams count is that to consistently do small things well often leads to opportunities to do bigger things or to pursue bigger dreams.

In some ways, it is taking the risk to put your money where your mouth is – doing so opens doors over time to larger opportunities later on.

Little acts of kindness practiced consistently may lead us to see a larger need and the opportunity to practice even greater kindness.

Small efforts toward justice and fairness open doors for making a difference on a larger scale.

Small acts of compassion meet important needs. At the same time, they develop us as compassionate people who can care and act on ever-larger issues.

The same would be true of sacrifice.

People who have experienced making small sacrifices for others are likely increasing their capacity to make larger sacrifices and to take on ever larger challenges.

Mother Teresa said, “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”

She also said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

Make a difference.

It is possible that small steps taken today will enable us to take bigger ones down the road. And it is also possible that some of us will spend most of our lives doing small things, seemingly unheroic things.

Please remember that those small things matter and the ripple effect may linger for a long time.

So, start small. As Mother Teresa wrote, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”

Maybe you can’t do it all, but you can do something.

Josh Wilson’s song encouraged me greatly. And I can only hope his thought encourages you as well.

Note that Wilson is a person of faith and he is hoping that faith both motivates us and empowers us to live well.

May the Lord bless with you grace to make a difference in the opportunities to care about others that are set before you.