MONTHLY MESSAGE from TRACY, KATE & MEG

September/October 2010 Message - The Power of Dreams

Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do. ~ Pope John XXIII

We are living in challenging times. Whether we watch the world from Washington D.C., Wallstreet or California, from the Gulf Coast, Haiti, or Pakistan, or from the main streets of Central Minnesota, we see many people facing difficulty, adversity, loss and change. We see our friends and neighbors facing job losses and economic setbacks. We see people struggling to find employment and small businesses struggling to survive. We see families and nations facing unexpected changes and uncertain futures caused by natural disasters. We see our planet and the natural world reeling from the impact of man-made disasters.

As we look around at all of the challenges before us we have to be careful not to get lost in fear, frustration, discouragement or despair. These are not times when we can afford to take things for granted or to become complacent about our lives or our world. And despite the natural instinct to tuck in and play things safe when life looks risky and uncertain, we must respond to the challenges of these times by allowing the deepest and surest part of ourselves to dream about the world of possibilities that will help us create what we imagine for ourselves, for our children and for our world.

At our mother’s memorial service the priest began his remarks about her life with this phrase: “It takes a dream to raise a family.” Our mother was raised in western Minnesota in a family of ten children facing the challenges of poverty and alcoholism. Each of those children went on to be educated and to create lives of public and professional service. Together they raised 52 grandchildren that also went on to create lives of meaning, purpose and contribution in their families and communities. Our mother, like her mother, understood the power of dreams. She encouraged us to ignore the odds or the conventional wisdom about what was possible. She challenged us to see beyond what was right in front of us. She taught us to imagine, to risk, and to create the things that were most important to us.

It takes a dream to raise a family, to begin a relationship, to go to college, to start a business, to plant a garden, to heal an illness, to run for office, to lead a school, to build a bridge, or to explore another career. It takes a dream to get up and begin again when life sends us challenges or diversions.  But if we look around we will see examples every day of the amazing and miraculous things that occur when human beings follow their dreams and live with imagination.

We wish you a life powered by hopes, dreams and possibilities. These are the seeds that will help you create the life you imagine.

Learn more about our SEND Program, a seven-module spiritual and personal self-development program to help you transform your life. A new cohort is forming now to begin in March 2011.