How to Know When to Let Go of Your Dream

There’s a show I produce for BET called Sunday Best. It’s a musical competition show that showcases the best gospel singers across the country. Although close to an American Idol format, the beauty of the show is the rawness and spontaneity only found in gospel music. Imagine Sunday morning service on television! I can’t begin to explain the level of musical ability that exists in this community. I’ve seen talent walk through the audition process of this show and you wonder where have these people been hiding all these years? The talent pool is priceless! But I’m quite sure that you can only imagine the difficult process it is to travel, stand in line for hours, some even days, just to get a chance at fulfilling a dream… only to be told no.

I can’t count the times I’ve sat with contestants after their let down and listen to their hearts weep, feel like failure and have no direction on what to do next. I am often lost for words and find myself feeling the guilt and weight of making this person’s dream come true…

But that power is not mine to give. So what do I do?

I try to remember what I did when I was in the same position starting my own career. Being rejected by every label I sent my demo to. I was told that my songs were not deep enough lyrically, and that no one wanted to hear someone talk over a choir. I get it. It was just a dream I had, I understand it was a long shot even trying to dream.

Dreaming can be scary business.

Sitting outside for hours just waiting to be heard, working two and three jobs just to raise money for the business you’ve desired to do since you were in college. No loans, no support, just a dream. But here’s a major question I’ve asked myself many times when doors even now are slammed in my face and meetings don’t go the way I planned. For every “yes” someone sees you get, there are a thousand no’s around the corner no one ever hears about.

Here’s the question: when is it time to let go? When do you stop trying to fulfill a dream or a passion that never seems to get off the ground, but the desire never seems to stop flying high?

Here’s an answer I received that changed my view about the journey to the dream. You stop trying when THE DREAM DOESN’T LEAVE AND THE DOOR DOESN’T CLOSE.

If you’re forty and you still desire to play professional football, that’s a closed door even though the dream didn’t hear it slam. Capability and Capacity must be members of your dream team. That’s why it’s very important to have team members who are not just cheerleaders, but who can give you a true response to your talent instead of telling you what could cost you some of the most vibrant years of your life. Godly counsel is life support to dreamers.  Because dreamers can build their own reality very quickly, and get mad at you if you don’t want to live in it.

So if you make delicious cakes and are thinking about selling them for weddings or big events – and you won’t go bankrupt trying to do it – that’s a door connected to your dream. Go! But after years and years of trying, when no one is calling you for those cakes, you need to stop. If your own stewardship is being questioned based on your savings account and the loans you’ve acquired chasing the dream, that’s a sign. If your family has suffered at the hand of your chase, what more do you need?

God will never take you OUT of His will to DO His will.

It’s hard to let dreams go… I get it. We find value in our dreams because we think its what we’re best at. And we see a part of ourselves in what we dream about being. But chasing and never getting will drive you CRAZY.

But here is a sweet truth. There is a dream someone else has of you as well…

And His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. And His dream comes with a benefit package.

Find HIM…you just might find your purpose after all.

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