Living the Dream
Joscelynn Ann Baio
Columbia Southern University
02/15/2015
Withhold not good from them when it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it (Proverb 3:27).
Abstract
“The American dream has always included material aspiration, especially for those who start out with little or nothing. But as James Truslow Adams–who popularized the term in his 1931 history, The Epic of America–wrote, it was “not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” It was the freedom to seek and pursue one’s own path. Most important, it was the freedom to follow one’s conscience without constraints from governmental authorities” (Plane, Ann Marie, and Tuttle, Leslie, 2013).
Keywords: Making a difference, dreams, hopes, aspirations, goals, objectives, speed bumps, challenges, hurdles, mountains, boundaries, overcome, reach, leaps, bounds, blood, sweat, tears.
Living the Dream
When reading the article written by William Damon, “American dreams and visions” I was drawn in with the very first line of his text. “The American dream isn’t just about riches. Even in the twenty first century, it’s still about freedom.” Our own free will is what leads us and guides us, which is if we will.
I Have a Dream
Not like Dr. Martin Luther King was talking in a selfish notion but the mission of a society. In fact, we all have this dream and we all have this power. There is this premonition that holds so true that if one is instilled in a greater purpose for greater good there is this assumption that it is always for personal gain. When a person has a burning desire that is instilled not just in their mind, but burns deep in the heart of the soul to conquer a greater good. I read the book “Dreams, Dreamers, and Visions : The Early Modern Atlantic World” in parallel to this article and the authors all agreed, “some dreams remain garbage, but a few constructions have promise, and if they deal meaningfully with issues important to the dreamer and to a larger community, they are taken seriously (whether or not they are acceptable). Seen in this perspective, the dream is a random search for an alternative survival strategy when standard plans have failed and thus can be seen as an adaptive evolutionary device, biologically wired into the brain, like the capacity for mutation in the genome.” When trusting in those dreams that hold true is standing to make a difference for greater good there is an understanding to create the plan.
Planning
Blueprints of the mind are a great distinction of what role the leader needs to play out in the yearning of creating the environment of future successes and learning experiences. Our textbook elaborates in the role of strategic leadership, “this role can very well be overwhelming to the leader for the big picture” (Daft, 2011 p. 396-397). When knowing this is a great obstacle is better knowing as a plan like the “Six Thinking Hats” to put into play with the make it happen attitude will destine to any organizations future.
Sense of Community. There is a greater good occurring when a community is involved what is technically called synergy. Now in the works of leading a group to the future of belief and understanding in the opportunity of change. There is nothing that could get in the way to lasting results of an organization’s entity.
Leader’s Involvement. It takes a special person to open to the dreams in the works of the unknown, but it takes a special work within a team to create commonality to accomplish that which a community is in need for the change and the discipleship that entails in that change. One person at a time may seem like a tedious task as it is, but the result of knowing one family is affected by a single dream, with the vision of the greater good not for the self of the individual, but of the creation of all sheep.
The Big Picture. We all have a mission we all have a purpose. I believe personally those of an appreciation of the most hardship, the everlasting pain, the sacrifice for the dreams to come true. There is a greater love of success or the journey thereof. Not just pinpointing on the famous phrase, “living the America Dream.” Rather like Damon says, “those who appreciate the elevated meanings of the American dream that have triggered hope in good times and bad, it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy—a harbinger for a nation that is still rising” (Damon, 2014).
References
Daft, R. L. (2011). Creating Vision and Strategic Direction. The leadership experience (5th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western.
Damon, William. “American dreams and visions.” Hoover Digest 2 (2014): 160+. AcademicOneFile.Web.16Feb.2015.http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA373680595&v=2.1&u=oran95108&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=2f0a400a3556b8f96b78d08b40c62938
Plane, Ann Marie, and Tuttle, Leslie, eds. Dreams, Dreamers, and Visions: The Early Modern Atlantic World. Philadelphia, PA, USA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 16 February 2015.
Copyright © 2013. University of Pennsylvania Press. All rights reserved.