If You Can Dream, You Can Do It!

I sit in my bed feeling absolutely defeated. After having spent nearly my whole life pursuing one dream, everything lies shattered on the ground. Since I was a preschooler, I have wanted to become a doctor. I lived my whole life for that dream. But a series of serious health crises allowed underlying medical conditions—conditions I did not know I had—to rise to the surface. It seemed as though one minute I was running up and down stairs. The next, I was clinging to life.

I tried everything to get better. I went to endless appointments; I tried countless medicines. I changed my diet. I learned about alternative medicine. I started taking vitamins, minerals, herbs and supplements. My health continued to decline. I sought out various mental wellness teachers. Perhaps if I changed my mind, I could change my health.

During a bad migraine spell—one which left me bedridden and unable to lift my head off the pillow—I watched the motivational speech Wayne Dyer. I hung on to every word…but his words angered me. He kept saying, “If you can dream it, you can do it!”

This may be positive advice to people who do not dream, but I dream a lot! I dream all the time. I dream about not being afflicted by all my medical conditions. I dream about not living my life attached to a ventilator. I dream about being able to go back to medical school and becoming a physician. I dream so many things.

I decide I am just not trying hard enough. Perhaps I am allowing my medical conditions to dictate my effort. I try to push through my exhaustion and symptoms. Soon, my health deteriorates to such a state that my GI tract starts failing. I pushed too hard. I used too much precious energy. My body is giving out.
 

Night after night, my dreams comfort me. I dream I am free from all my health afflictions. It does not matter how much I dream, my dreams remain my dreams. Perhaps in an ideal world in which disease does not prevail, maybe then all we need to do is dream. Until then, I cling, cleave and hold fast to God that as I struggle through my health, I am able to endure to the end and receive the crown of life.

“Blessed is a man who preserves under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life which the LORD has promised to those who love Him.” (James 1:12)