Who Says You're Too Old To Dream?

You’re not too old to dream
He posed as a virtuoso guitarist in a performance. The trouble was that whilst the right hand was strumming away, the left hand which traditionally should be moving from one fret to the other, finding the right chord, was just static. And so the music was anything but music. Yet he came away congratulating himself whilst his audience thought, ’good riddance!’
Someone in the audience however approached him to find out why his left hand was stuck in one place unlike his contemporaries. His reply was, ‘Others are still looking for it, but I have found it.’
Yes, by the age of 50and even above, many say you should have peaked, found your dream and fulfilled your dream and getting ready to retire and enjoy life. This is not always the case. There are many who at 50 and beyond are yet to find their purpose in life but are not ashamed to admit it and still yearning to find it. They believe they are not too old to dream. They may have had jobs but not careers or careers but not calling and so they will not rest until they have entered their Promised Land. They may have been getting up in the morning and reluctantly going to a job they hate and were only tolerating it because it put food on the table and paid the bills. But they know deep down they are like a fish out of water.
Some have been threatened with redundancy and they see it as an opportunity to explore the alternative- what has been nagging within for so long: ‘Get out of your comfort zone and be what you were born for. Get out of the boat and step on water if you want to walk on water.’ They have finally taken the plunge and enrolled on a course: Preparing to start your Own Business.
I met with these rare breeds recently, who will not give up on their dreams despite their age. They were prepared to have a plunge in the River of Business. They were prepared to have a go at the Business Race without fear of failure despite the discouraging statistic that many fail than survive.
Encouragingly the statistics also show that more businesses started by older people survive than those started by younger people. Why is this? Older people have experience on their side. They have weathered the storms of life and take risks that have been well-considered. They most likely have more skills than the young and are wise enough to see opportunities from afar and grab them with both hands.
These are rare breeds because they have refused to succumb to societal assumption that it is over for them. They have not allowed the failures of the past to condition them into thinking that they are too old to dream. Whereas it is good to discover your dream early and pursue it with the vim and vigour of your youthful exuberance and apply your best years to that vision, the truth is that not many of us discover our reason for being at an early age. The important thing is that we need not give up because we are forty or fifty or even sixty and still have not found it. So long as you have not given up on yourself, you will find it. You will find it if you humble yourself and not deceive yourself into thinking you have arrived, when you know deep within you that you have not.
Everyone of us has a promised land- a land flowing with milk and honey; a place where you are fulfilled despite challenges. In fact, the challenges of that land fuel you with the adrenalin that keeps you going. You may be waking up early in the morning and going to bed late at night, because you know you are where you should be. You may not be paid much; you may even be doing it for free, but you are fulfilled because you are making an impact that gives you joy unspeakable and full of glory.
So do not settle for less than what God has ordained for you. Take the bull by the horn and go for gold. You are not too old to dream. You were made in the made of God and He has put within you the ability to dream and dream big. Regardless of your past experiences, do not let them limit you. Rather, use all your experiences to work for you. Use them as a stepping stone to a higher ground. God uses the negatives - the dark clouds, the disappointments, the failures- with the good times and weaves a magnificent tapestry, if we would put them in His hands and trust Him and work with Him.
Unlike the guitarist who has found it, you may still be looking for it, but you too will also find it one day and be established in your land and be able to say, ‘I have found it too!’
I remember sitting in a class of trainee teachers where I was one of the oldest. I refused to let that bother me. That was many years ago. And now sit in another class of over 50s who want to start their own business and I believe I am one of the oldest. But once again, it does not matter, because I have not given up hope. I still believe that I will find what I am made for. I will find my Promised Land, where I will be fulfilled and where I will live and leave and indelible mark for all time. I may start late but better late than never. I refuse to settle for less than what the Most High has endowed me for, planned for me and wired me for. He is for me and no one can be against me. His will and purpose for my life shall come to pass. I choose to take side with Him – not my circumstances, not what people say or think. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I am more than a conqueror through Him. Eye has not seen ear has not heard, neither has it entered the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him (1Cor2:9, Phil4:13, Rom8:31, 37). I refuse every grasshopper mentality; I debunk every frog ceiling mentality limitation and go for gold to the glory of God. (Num13:33)
Someone said, ” Live before you die.” But I say, ‘You cannot live before you die until you have found your dream and lived it.’

Genesis 21: Isaac Is Born
1 And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken.
2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him --- whom Sarah bore to him --- Isaac.
4 Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 And Sarah said, "God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me."
7 She also said, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age."

Gen21:1-7
http://inspiration4generations.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/you-are-not-too-old-to-dream/