Close to thirty years ago I cast my very first vote. It was the 1980 presidential election and I, like so much of America, voted for Ronald Reagan. If you can’t remember that time, let me refresh your memory. Jimmy Carter was President. Americans had been held hostage for 444 days in our own embassy in Iran. Just a few years before, mortgage rates were at 18%, jobs were scarce and if you saw a line at a gas station, you’d better get in it.

“Elected largely on his promise to never lie to the American people, President Carter soon seemed out of place in the vastness of the presidency. Events conspired to further impede his progress: rising energy costs and high unemployment being just two. A man of peace who took pride in bringing together age-old antagonists, Carter was finally viewed by his countrymen as lacking presidential stature.” – American Experience, PBS

We needed a cheerleader! And Ronald Reagan, with that movie star smile and smooth cowboy bravado was it. “Things are fine. All is well. Expand your business. Go out to dinner. Life is good. Guess what? We believed him. The economy rebounded. The cold war ended. Mary Lou Retton vaulted to a perfect 10 in the Olympics and the Berlin Wall crumbled.

Barack Obama has a great smile, too. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

In the words of Anatole France, “To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.”

It seems these days that everyday every decision we make is somehow or somewhat monumental and carries a “life changing” dimension. Does it seem that way to you? But I have made one decision that gets me through the others— I will constantly move forward toward my goals. “I’ll do my dreaming with my eyes wide open, and I’ll do my looking back with my eyes closed, says Tony Arata.

Truth is, I don’t really know how to hunker down. And notice, right now for a moment, how “hunker” rhymes with “junker” and “clunker.” I think I’d rather dream on a team with some gleam.

So, hunker down or dream. It’s your decision. Here are a few ways to do both.

The 5 Simple Steps to Hunkering Down
1. Stay scared. Call it “street smart.”
2. Cultivate cynicism. Call it “straight talk.”
3. Praise pessimism. Call it a “reality check.”
4. Take no action that might improve your condition.
5. Crow “I told you so” when things get worse.

The 5 Slightly Harder Steps to Pursuing Your Dream
1. Know what you’re trying to make happen.
2. Expect good things to happen for you.
3. Plant seeds of good things daily.
4. Trust that some of your seeds will grow.
5. Make progress daily without fail.

“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.” – T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)

Good things
happen to dreamers
who remain standing
with open eyes.

Stand up.

Inspiration comes from many places and people. It’s hard to make the proper attributions all the time. To my friend Robin who informed me on Friday night that at age 33 and with a firm career, he had just joined the Army— I admit, at the moment, I thought you were crazy. Today, I think you are a hero– pursuing your dreams. I believe in them and you, too.

Robbie

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 1st, 2009 at 4:03 pm and is filed under Great Ideas, Highly Recommended, My Life on the MPv2 List. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.