Monday, December 28, 2009

Purpose: The Dream or Vision Lives

Purpose, the pursuit of a dream or vision of excellence in whatever field, requires courage. The struggle for purpose is fought in mainly within ourselves; for that is where fear and other demons masquerading as common sense seek to convince us that our dream is worthless, or that the risk is too great. In this battle, we also need assurance or faith; the ability to persevere when reason suggests it is best to give up. These, self-awareness (and self-management), purpose, and assurance (faith) are three of the 7 Dimensions of Wisdom; skills that are necessary for a fulfilling life.

I was thinking of purpose as I watched a movie based on the life of major league pitcher Jim Morris last night. Morris (played in the movie by Dennis Quaid) dreamt all his life of being a major league pitcher. He made it to the minor leagues but retired after several years because of injuries, without realizing his dream. Later in his mid thirties, as a high school baseball coach and physical science teacher, he was challenged by his baseball team members to try out for the major leagues again; if the team was successful in winning a district championship. The high school team had won only one game each year for the past several years. But thus motivated, the team won the district and Morris went to the tryout. Most unexpectedly, he was able to throw 12 consecutive pitches at 98 miles per hour. In his earlier career, his fast ball was only about 85 mph. The climax of the story is that Morris was recruited into the minor leagues, performed well, and soon realized his dream and pitched for the Orlando Rays for two seasons. This comeback also changed his career in the long term by making him famous, and a well paid motivational speaker.

Your dream and challenge may not be quite so dramatic, but a dream and the struggle against disillusionment play major roles in the life development of many people. Daniel Levinson’s long term studies of the career and life development of men and women from various and diverse occupations showed that in his books: Seasons of a Man’s Life and Seasons of a Woman’s Life. The nature of a dream or vision is that you can’t determine ahead of time whether or not it can be made real; thus the need for courage. While planning and other tools can and should be used. There will always be a gap between what such management tools can do to minimize risk and the amount of uncertainty that is involved in pursuing a dream. Hand-to-hand combat with our internal adversaries cannot be avoided if the dream or vision is to live.

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