Dreamers Can Be Dangerous

Dreaming can get you in trouble. It is a very dangerous thing to do. No, it is not the kind of dreaming that you do at night – but rather the dreaming that is done in the day time. Dreaming about what could be. Dreaming about what you will do or might do. The thing to understand is that dreaming is can be dangerous.

“Dreams have only one owner at a time. That's why dreamers are lonely.” Erma Bombeck

But once the dream comes alive in the dreamer it is not something that goes out or goes away easily. It may well be placed aside and made to be something that is not for now… but it does not die.

Most inventors that I have read about have been big dreamers. Their dream was so great that it kept them from their families while great things were being discovered. It usually left them without a normal social life – looking weird and uncomfortable with normal surroundings. They would much prefer to be in a separate place by themselves.

I have watched that happen in some minister’s lives as well.

Someone said that “Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions.”

Our world needs dreamers. We need people that believe that something will happen here or there because of the dream they have inside. But we will not always appreciate what they have done or what they might do.

Not long ago Donald Trump, a real-estate magnate, hosted the show entitled “The Apprentice”. While the show was wildly popular for six seasons, it has now been changed to revitalize the presentation – now having celebrities play for their favorite charities.

Trumps line that was popularized happened when he looked at one of the candidate Apprentices and said in a distinct way, “George….you’re fired!” The entire show and watching audience waited for that moment when the next person was to be fired – because of a lack of performance or whatever… they may have just crossed or made Trump angry. But they were done.

I have often thought that a great follow up program to “The Apprentice” would be to investigate what “George” was now doing after Trump fired him. What dream did “George” have and how did his life turn out? Further to that – how did “George’s” co-competitors on the show that went to work for the Trump group work out? It is very likely that Trump fired them the moment they looked sidewise or questioned the extravagance that Trump lived.

“The Apprentice” was all about Trump and the extravagance that he lived by. Without it Trump was an aging and relic of a business person that was an executive with a lethal attitude – that could care less who he hurt or how he did it. But the world calls that “Branding” and admire men like this, until they get to know the idiot.

The “youngsters” that hoped to achieve the position with him were people that were in all likelihood “dreamers” too… that for that reason alone they were “stupid” enough to try out for the Trump organization.

But what of the Dream that they contained, what do they do with it? How will they live with the days to come having started a Dream?

I have met with a former Assistant Pastor. He started well with his Senior Pastor. He did well in the work that he was given to do – and with the resources that he was given to work with. But it didn’t work out. The Senior Minister fired him not long after he started. The statement made to the congregation was to do with finances. The fact that they had lost a great person was not lost with the congregation. But the former Assistant Pastor went on to do even greater things than the Senior Minister ever dreamed about.

The world has “Trumps” and “Senior Ministers” that they have to put up with… or that they simply let go their way… because they simply are powerful people.

It is dangerous to be a Dreamer. It can be lonely too. But a good tomorrow needs a Dreamer today.

~ Murray Lincoln ~

Addendum…
One of the best examples for me is the list that has been created of Abraham Lincoln’s life… Some have used it as a list of failures mixed with success… where Lincoln bounced back from many defeats in life. I see his life as a Dreamer that stuck to it.

Lincoln actually was considered a fairly successful politician in Illinois and a leader of the Whig party in his state, as well as a successful lawyer. The true chronology of his career is as follows.

The Lincoln List – success or failure?
1831
At age 22, he lost his job because his father wanted to move the family.
1832
At age 23, he was elected company captain of Illinois militia in the Black Hawk War. Because of his Black Hawk War involvement, he did not spend sufficient time campaigning and was defeated in running for the Illinois State Legislature. Note that he was only 23-years old.
1834
At age 25, he started a store in New Salem, Illinois with a partner. He was appointed postmaster of New Salem and deputy surveyor of Sangamon County. Unfortunately, his partner died causing the business to fail. Lincoln later paid off the whole debt for the failed business. Then he was elected to the Illinois State House of Representatives. That certainly seems like a busy and successful year for someone only 25.
1835
Lincoln's sweetheart, Ann Rutledge, died.
1836
At age 27, Lincoln reportedly had a nervous breakdown. (Many scholars believe this to be a fabrication of William Herndon made after Lincoln had died. Herndon had been a law partner of Lincoln, but they did not get along. Considering Lincoln's other accomplishments that year, a nervous breakdown was unlikely.)

Lincoln was re-elected to Illinois State Legislature and led the Whig political party delegation in moving Illinois state capital from Vandalia to Springfield. He also received a license to practice law in Illinois state courts and became law partner of John T. Stuart.
1838
At age 29, he was nominated for Illinois House Speaker by Whig caucus but did not win the election, because the Whigs could not garner enough votes. He then served as the Whig Floor Leader.
1839
Lincoln was chosen presidential elector for the first Whig convention. He also was admitted to practice law in U.S. Circuit Court.
1840
At age 31, he was re-elected to Illinois State Legislature. He also argued his first case before Illinois Supreme Court.
1841
He established a new law practice with Stephen T. Logan
1842
At age 33, he was re-elected to Illinois State Legislature. Lincoln was also admitted to practice law in U.S. District Court. He was becoming a very successful lawyer, as well as a popular legislator.
1843
At age 34, Lincoln wanted to run for Congress but for the sake of Whig party unity, agreed to hold off until 1846 to allow other party candidates to represent the state. Thus, he really was not defeated for nomination for Congress, as stated in the list of his "failures".
1844
Lincoln established his own law practice with William H. Herndon as junior partner. (After Lincoln had been assassinated, Herndon claimed that Lincoln had suffered a nervous breakdown in 1836. This apparently was an effort to get back at Lincoln's widow.)
1846
At age 37, Lincoln won the election for U.S. Congress.
1848
At age 39, Lincoln's term in office was up and was not a candidate for Congress, per an agreed-upon arrangement among the Whigs. He did however try to get an appointment as Commissioner of the General Land Office at Washington D.C. but didn't get appointed.
1849
Lincoln was admitted to practice law in U.S. Supreme Court. He was offered appointment as governor of the Oregon Territory, but he declined the position.
1854
He was elected to the Illinois State Legislature but declined the seat to run for U.S. Senate.
1855
At age 46, Lincoln ran for the U.S. Senate but then willingly deferred his Whig votes, as a political move, to allow Trumbull to win the seat. It was an intentional move and not a defeat as the list claims.
1856
At age 47, Lincoln received votes in the Philadelphia Republican convention for the vice presidency. He did not campaign and was not running for the office at that time, so he did not gain the nomination.
1858
At age 49, he ran for the U.S. Senate and won the popular vote. But the Illinois State Legislature overthrew the popular vote, as was legal in those days. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson eliminated that practice with the 17th amendment to the constitution. Thus, Lincoln ran for the Senate and was defeated.
1859
Lincoln had a very successful and lucrative law practice but hesitantly agreed to run for the presidency.
1860
At age 51, Lincoln became president of the United States.