Reaching for Gold

These last few weeks you all have probably been watching the Olympics. You see tears, you see smiles, you see dreams coming true and dreams being crushed. However, those athletes never give up. They go until they are bending over, accepting the gold medal being placed around their neck, happy tears brimming in their eyes as the country's national anthem is played.

There are a lot of things you can you learn from these athletes.  The stress of what they do is high, the commitment even more. And sometimes I wonder if every one of us had their commitment for our dreams and for the things we love, if truly amazing and great things could happen. I believe so. 

I can't help but feel like most people have lost their purpose -- lost their drive. Gold is a winning term. It's what everyone wants in life, whether you are an athlete or not. Gold doesn't have to be a medal around your neck. It doesn't have to be literally gold. It's connected with winning, with achieving what you set out to do. Your gold could be getting a novel published, or passing all your school classes. Your gold could be wanting to preach in every state, or wanting to help an orphanage in a foreign country. If you achieve what you want, then you, too, have received a "gold medal". 

There are a lot of things we want in life. There are a lot of dreams we have. When we're kids, we want everything and we want to be everything. As we get older, we form bigger dreams, and we start to see a brighter future. But unless you have a drive and a purpose to accomplish all that God would like you to accomplish in your lifetime, you won't ever reach that 'gold'. 

Sometimes, the gold is just living your life to the fullest. Waking up, taking care of kids and just remembering to breathe is an accomplishment. Not everything has to be great and seem impossible.

How does one not give up on their goals and dreams? How does one always stay passionate about something?

Sometimes, you lose desire. Your dreams change as you get older and so do passions. And sometimes you have to put dreams and passions aside for a time. God will take dreams away, and he will give them. He may put a desire or passion in your heart, but then let it slowly die for a season until you are ready to embrace it.

The thing is, my friends, don't get discouraged. I've learned a lot lately about being content where we are in life. I've learned a lot about letting things go. I've started college and some classes will help me further my dreams and some classes will not. But we go through things like this to learn. To train and become exactly what God intended.

Don't ever stop reaching for your gold. Don't ever give up just because it gets hard. Life is full of hardships and you just have to weather them out. Just like athletes work through their sprains and broken bones to be able to continue on with their track and get the gold, you need to do that same. Perhaps you won't get a literal sprain, but metaphorically speaking, any set back you have can be considered a 'sprain' or 'fracture'. You have to do 'physical therapy' and just get back out there and do what you love.

Finish that novel you love so very much. Finish that painting. Don't stop reaching for your gold. Don't give up on your goals. Don't give up on yourself. And don't give up on God.