One Thanksgiving, a good fifteen years back, my dad stood up and said to the whole family “I have a big announcement to make”. He proceeded to tell us that he had discovered something significant about our ancestors, then pulled out a sheet of paper that was folded up and started to read it. Here is what it said:
“ALMOST 400 years ago, our ancestors Edward Doty, servant of Stephen Hopkins, his family, second wife Elizabeth Fisher, son Giles and daughter Constance both from his first wife, and Francis Cooke and his son John, along with 95 others set sail on September 6, 1620 on a ship from England westward to the New World.
66 days later, at an average speed of only 2 miles an hour, they arrived in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. They explored around the harbor, and finally decided that the mainland to the west was a good place to situate their families. On December 21st, they anchored in Plymouth Harbor with their ship, the MAYFLOWER, where they established Plymouth Colony.”
Everyone in the family was astounded! We had no idea that our roots traced back to the Mayflower and we were even more surprised when my mom appeared with a big visual aid with our family tree mapping our ancestors back to her amazing drawing of the historic ship. It was so exciting to discover that we related to the pilgrims...and the celebratory turkey feast followed.
The story of my pilgrim ancestors, whom I share with 30 million other Americans, started where most success stories start...a daydream about the pursuit of a better life. They dreamed of religious freedom, a chance to build a better future and of the opportunity of a new land. Their daydreams centered around finding new freedom and making a plan of what they needed to do to pursue it.
Little did they know at the time that their dream would pave the way to the future of the United States of America. Their pursuit of freedom eventually led to the establishment of the greatest free nation to grace this earth. Their willingness to not quit, despite miserable conditions on the ship and on land, changed the course of history so significantly, it cannot be measured.
Last week I wrote about not quitting our daydreams. That we need to pay attention to that stirring in our heart, and do everything we can to hone in to where that daydreaming is taking us and follow it.
Can you imagine what would have happened if the pilgrims had quit? Would our great nation exist in its current form? Would true freedom have ever graced our planet? Would we have even been born?
Just like the pilgrims, we can’t quit either. There is a purpose for our daydreams. There is an impact to be made.
Ironically, about two hours ago I was feeling like quitting this mission I’ve been on. It’s not easy, I feel like I’m failing and I’m exhausted trying. I got very wah wah about it for a whole ten minutes. It wasn’t the first time. Cry me a river, right?
But I ended up putting my big girl pants back on and got back at it. Because someone, somewhere is going to need to hear the hopeful messages I’m sharing. There’s someone stuck and needs encouragement to move forward. There’s someone paralyzed with trauma and needs peace. And there’s someone whose purposeful dream is lingering, and they need the push to pursue it.
And maybe, just maybe, one of those somebodies is going to be the next pilgrim...paving the way for a whole new amazing future that no one ever imagined.
What if your somebody is that person too? What if your daydream is the catalyst to a whole new world of opportunities? What if your pursuit of a better life leads to someone else living one too?
Would you quit knowing that? Would you endure the hardships to pursue it? Would you get uncomfortable for a while to make it happen?
I sure hope your answer to these questions are no, yes, and yes. I’m quite certain the world will be a better place if so.
I hope this Thanksgiving that you’ll join me in not just being thankful that the pilgrims didn’t quit, but being thankful that you aren’t going to quit either.
Happy Thanksgiving to you my friends!
If you have a daydream that you think could change your life or others, and would like to get busy pursuing it, email me at info@amandamotivates.com and we can set up a complimentary coaching call.
If you feel paralyzed from pursuing the dreams in your life, you can pick up a copy of The Paralyzed Movement to help you navigate the way at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HP6W8FW/