For all of us, the task of figuring out a Dream for our life – that unique purpose that we know God has created and gifted us to fulfill – can be a daunting, and often scary, challenge.

It’s easy to feel like we should have it figured out by now, no matter what age we are.

But that stress can feel different, depending on where we are in the process, and where we are in life.

different generations

, different messages

If you’re in your twenties, you may have gotten the message from the generation ahead of you to “follow your passion.” The women giving you this great advice, your mother and aunts and others you respect, are perhaps only just recently finding the freedom to pursue what’s really in their hearts. They want to encourage you not to wait. “Don’t settle,” they are saying. “Don’t worry about doing the safest thing, or going for the best income. Do something you love.”

That’s wonderful advice, and yet… what is your passion? What do you love? You don’t know!

And so perhaps you’re feeling a sort of paralyzing fear at the thought of choosing the wrong path. Or guilt over a job you’ve taken mainly for the paycheck, all the while worrying you’re letting down the generation ahead of you, who’ve given you so many opportunities. Or you’re ignoring all of it, and feeling like a failure at your lack of progress. Or maybe you’ve chosen your path and are hurtling down it, unwilling to consider that a change might be necessary because that would mean you’d wasted time, money, and energy on the wrong thing.

That’s a lot of stress.

If you’re a bit older, you may have all those same fears, but added into the mix is the stress that life is flying by, and maybe it’s too late, and you’d better get it figured out fast, and you don’t have time to mess around and get it wrong, and, and…

That’s also a lot of stress.

impactivity is not about stress

We won’t sugarcoat this truth: you must figure out who you are meant to be, the God-given Dream you are meant to pursue, if you want to live a life of Impactivity.

However! This Dreaming is most definitely a process. You can figure it out, you can pursue it, you can have joy in it. But you never need to feel discouraged because you haven’t arrived at all the right answers yet. These are questions you will be asking for the rest of your life!

You can view your life as an endless series of crossroads, forks in the road, with a life-or-death feeling of stress attached to each choice. Many people choose to see life this way.

But what if you shifted your perspective, and thought instead of your life as a single path, as a single journey? Each step becomes the cause of the next step. Each choice leads to other choices. Each experience teaches you what you need to know for the next experience.

if your dream is a complete mystery

…

Take a step anyway. Go do something that is even in the vaguest direction of what your dream might be, even if it seems like a “dead-end job” or a waste of time. Learn everything you can, right where you are. Learn about people and learn from people. Learn about that business or organization, and learn what you like and dislike about all businesses or organizations.

Be bold, and find other bold people who will support you.

Push forward and be proactive enough to explore, while you relax about the questions that are still unanswered and the fact that you don’t have it figured it out. It’s a process.

if your dream is waiting for you to step into it

…

If, however, you do have even a sense of what your Dream might be, but you are hesitating because you fear taking a step down the wrong path, it’s time to start moving! Those who are following in your footsteps are waiting and watching to see how you boldly move forward.

Try something in the direction of your Dream. Failure won’t be nearly as bad as you think.

Be open to change as you move forward, but move forward! Any progress, even an experiment, is much better than the paralysis of worrying about the wrong step.

Life is an Adventure. Live it. Ask questions. Be intentional about giving yourself the gift of time and space to learn and pursue.

It’s never too late to get started on the Dream that God is inviting you to pursue.

But it’s a process, so don’t let unanswered questions about the journey keep you from starting down the path.