Do you have really big dreams?

I have always had really big dreams about everything. It's kind of annoying because big dreams are great things and greatness takes time. One of my dreams was that I always wanted to be somebody and make a difference all over the world. And learning from "The Greats", I know that this could take a long time, but I'm doing it.

When studying "The Greats," I learned what keeps my generation from being "great" rather than just "good."

They say over and over again that we're too prideful. The toxins in our generation are in our pride, complacency, and a sense of entitlement. When I spent so much time studying this and praying about it, I found out pride was an abnormal normal for me.

I didn't even realize that I was prideful. Naturally, my knee-jerk reaction was to be in denial about it. I didn't know how to combat different levels of complacency and I didn't recognize where I was complacent but thankfully I serve a God who isn't even going to let ME get in the way of his plans for me.

The "Greats" really taught about how we underestimate this barrier to greatness. We underestimate the momentum it takes. We underestimate the failing. We underestimate the getting back up. We underestimate the amount and level of confusion and feeling lost that you endure when chasing your dreams.

We underestimate the falling down that it takes to keep going.

I study a lot of these things and try to give encouragement to as many young people as I can about this because I want us all to win. I want us all to win because we all have a purpose. We all have something to give and as long as we're breathing we all have work to do.

Pride terrifies me if I'm being honest. Two years ago, I would've never said this- but I would rather be humbled all day than to be full of pride and drunk on my own opinions. Pride has only made me selfish and make so many situations about me when they're not. Pride blinds me from seeing the bigger picture in life that keeps my anxiety down. Pride is in the simple things and it really creeps up on you. Pride sneaks up on you in those little moments that steps on the toes of the "you" that thinks "you're too big" to do whatever desperate-looking situation you're facing.

In real life, I've seen myself submit to that knee-jerk reaction to be prideful in a tough situation rather than humble myself and be vulnerable because I was in the company of others. I've seen myself react to others in a prideful way to defend my insecurities and that type of behavior has wounded my relationships in ways I haven't always been able to fix. I've seen myself respond pridefully to opportunities that I didn't get or opportunities that I didn't think I was worthy of because of my own insecurities and I've ended up ruining or losing opportunities because of it.

The worst ones were when I would let my pride keep me from receiving the help that someone was giving me but I interpreted it as judgment and criticism maybe because of their tone of voice or because they didn't give me advice in a nice, little gift-wrapped text message or the way I expect advice/criticism to come.

Sometimes the best "criticism" that I've been given has come in the most brutal and ruthless tones and also came from people who had impure motives with their intention of "criticizing" me or giving me advice. But that's not the point.

There's more to those situations than trying to keep myself from feeling like someone has been talking condescending to me. There's value in the "criticism" regardless of how it was given and God has shown me that these are the situations that those people that have accomplished their dreams are talking about.

These are the situations where we let our pride get in the way and we lose all value of the opportunity we've been given to grow.

I'm not advocating for people to talk down to others or that being reprimanded feels good either. But are you going to let someone else's temperament or tone of voice be the reason why you only made it but so far? Are you going to let YOU get in your own way?