“It’s time to stop complaining and start creating.”

I wrote that to myself last year, and posted it in FB for accountability. And here it is in my feed this morning. Shazam. Pow. Punch!

My world, your world, is saturated with opportunists praying on fear. There are fear-mongers on every street corner, and within every public media feed. The world, all of it, is a burning inferno, according to them, and each of us are only minutes from it turning our future into ashes. A planet scarce in resources with 8 billion people competing for every grain of rice. Doom. Doom. Doom.

Creators don’t see the world this way. Entrepreneurs always look for opportunities to seize. Dreamers dream alone at first, and then courageously dream out loud and risk doing something that could make things better.

“It only takes a few dreamers to paint the future a more lively color.” (I’m reading Walt Disney’s biography, and rereading Frank Baum’s classic, The Wizard of Oz now)

“I began years ago with an ambitious appetite to create a lot of cool things. As a young, somewhat naive teacher, I didn’t know you couldn’t do things a different way. An innovative way. So I created learning experiences that thrilled me and my students.

Then at some point, the grinding wheels of the bureaucratic status quo ate up all my enthusiasm. Challenging it, I found, ticks a lot of people off. Especially those who like comfort and predictable outcomes.

So I get it. Dreaming is dangerous. But so is living. Living adventurously has its risks. Yet risks can lead to exciting surprises, and for some of us, that is worth the effort.

I’ve returned to creating again and I’m leaving the complaining for those who prefer boredom.”

Are you a person of faith, a person filled with hope for a better future, someone who refuses to be squeezed into a place that constricts your child-like desire to create something beautiful? Well then, plug your ears if necessary and begin dreaming again.

And then go do something about it.