When your dream becomes a reality, gain a new perspective on always remembering your roots.
*Sign Up for Weekly Updates HERE!
Welcome to the Be Your Best Self Blog by Marsha Abbott
"The Shadow"
I was in New York City. It was a dark night. The only lights guiding the way were coming from those large street lights that seem to stretch on forever throughout the big city.
It had been a long yet fulfilling day. We were all ready to head back to the hotel for some rest, but those streets we were walking on seemed to never end. Keeping my head down, I pushed on through to keep up with the group to get to our final destination. And that is when I noticed something. Everyone else ahead of me walked right on by without a second glance…but not me. I came to a sudden stop, looked down and read the following words written in teal chalk on the sidewalk, “Dream till it becomes a reality.”
In that moment, I knew I had to get a picture of it. I mean, come on, I write an inspirational blog, and how inspiring are those words!?! But this is where the story just begins because it wasn’t those words that actually inspired me like I thought they would. Instead, it was the picture I took that meant so much more. And it’s a message we all need to hear….
So let me tell you how this message came to light on that dark street in my favorite city…New York City…
My sister and I finally decided to make it happen! We both love “The Big Apple” and have traveled there separately, but we had never been there together. So, we both knew…it was time. We booked the trip, we planned endlessly (okay maybe she planned endless as that is what older sisters do), and we took our husbands to New York City for an extended weekend of fun! While none of us knew quite what to expect as we had never traveled with just us four before, we ended up realizing that we truly are the best travel companions for each other. And I can honestly say, we had the BEST time. I have never laughed, danced, sang, or had as much fun as we did with our time in the big city! I can’t wait till our next adventure together!
And this one particular night, the night I came across this sidewalk-chalked message, is one I will always remember….
As soon as I walked by it, I made the whole group stop while I tried to get a picture of it. My original intent was to write a message about making your dreams a reality…about never giving up. But like I said, that is not the message that ended up coming to light on this dark night.
It felt like we were stopped forever in our journey back to the hotel because while I kept snapping pictures of this message, it just didn’t look quite right to share on my blog. Those darn street lights kept creating a partial shadow on the picture. So, in my eyes…it just didn’t look that good…and I was getting very frustrated. That is when my brother-in-law said something that ended up changing the message I had planned to share. His words changed this message all together. And while he may have said these words to just speed up the process so we could get going, or whether he said them with some true insight, I’ll never know. But either way, it changed my whole perspective on what those sidewalk-chalked words were really trying to teach me…to teach all of us.
My brother-in-law looked at me and said, “Maybe this is the right angle for the picture. Maybe the shadow is supposed to be there.” And then he went on to explain that while we can dream till it becomes our reality, we should also remember our shadow. We should remember where we came from. We should remember our roots. And I knew right then and there that this is the exact message I needed to hear. It’s a message we all need to hear as we live out our dreams, as we live out our reality.
Because let’s face it, we are living out the American Dream. This idea of working hard to accomplish our goals and striving to make our dreams a reality is not only possibly in this world we are so fortunate to live in, but it’s also pretty probable that it can and will happen. How lucky are we?!?
So, the real test of life comes after we achieve those dreams, after we make it our reality. What type of person are we then? Have we become somebody new? Or did we stay the same deep down inside? When we have a happy, comfortable, and fulfilling life, do we value that? And do we appreciate and remember where we were? Do we remember our roots? And have we remembered to stay humble through it all?
Because that is going to be the real test….
So many times in life, we always think if we could “just get to here” then we will be more generous, we will be more thankful, we will be more kind to all those less fortunate than us. Yet, when we “get to here” nothing really changes, and we start to trick our minds that we deserve this, that we are more important than others in this world. But that is the thing about humility and remembering our roots, nothing is ever “owed” to us. And if we are one of the lucky ones to achieve our dreams, then we need to remember that shadow…remember to be humble and to never forget where we came from. And most importantly, we need to remember how blessed we truly are and to carry those blessing forward to help others out there that aren’t as fortunate.
So yes, it happened on a dark night in New York City. And while the message on the sidewalk reminded me to “Dream till it becomes a reality,” it was those street lights shining down that brought with it a shadow and a more important message for all of us: So dream --larger than life --and don’t ever stop till it’s your reality. But then…when you finally get there… don’t forget about where you came from, don’t forget about your roots, don’t ever forget to look back and remember your shadow…
*For those of you struggling with something in life or have a topic of interest that you want me to talk about in this blog, email me at BeYourBestSelfBlog@gmail.com. Let’s work together to Be Our Best Selves!