An Open Letter to Your Soul

What now, my friend? You've come this far. Behind you, your victories have piled up. You did all those things that you once thought that you could not do. You found courage in the most intimidating of circumstances. And you found friends and encouragement in the most unlikely of places. You've built what could not be built and you've traveled roads reserved only for you. Treachery, humiliation, betrayal and defeat have dogged your path... but today--you're still a warrior, still walking your path, and still noble to your creed. Your adventures have taken you far. They've shaped and reshaped you over the long years. Sometimes it even seems that you've had many incarnations in your singular life. But still, but still... It's waiting for you...that one special thing that you must do to become who you really feel you are inside. I know it's been difficult, and you're weary. But still, but still... Don't you see...it's there, deep inside of you, in the center of your feelings, in the heart of your heart. It's a small thing, a flicker of a hope, a tendril of desire. But it's you, and it wants to come into the world and be recognized. I know you've done well. Your inner demons, for the most part, have been subdued. And the world that you've made around you and the relationships that you've forged and the career that you've molded and the learning that you've mastered make you much better than you've ever been before...but still, but still.... Perhaps you think it doesn't matter and that you don't have to liberate this secret dream that you've nourished in your heart despite all the logic for it existing. Perhaps you think that the world doesn't really need it anyway. But if you don't do it...and if you don't make it happen...and if you don't wake up today and seize the moment...something will always be missing. The world needs your dream. You need your dream. Don't let it slip away. Somebody somewhere is waiting for it to happen. A whole chain of universal causation is waiting to unfold...but cannot, because you keep this secret hope locked so deep inside, so tightly sealed from the light of your own acknowledgement that sometimes you can even fool yourself into believing that it's not there. But in the still small hours of the night, when all your distractions have fallen asleep...you'll find it waiting for you, as discontent as a child calling for its mother. How long can you keep denying the power within? The climate will never be hospitable. Your friends will never understand. And your resources will never be adequate. Yet, somehow, these are the most dangerous of dreams. Listen... Once upon a time, Mahatma Gandhi, surrounded by the might of the British Empire, dared to dream of freedom. Once upon a time, Martin Luther King, surrounded by historically-embedded racism, dared to dream of the equality of all beings regardless of their complexion. And once upon a time, Nelson Mandela, sick and imprisoned, surrounded by nothing but oppression, dared to dream of a different world. You, too, have greatness inside of you. There is something inside you that is so magnificent that if you were to let it out, the entire world would stop and stare in awe. And from that moment on, everything would be different, the broad river of history, itself, would be altered and even the consciousness of humankind would be shifted. How big is your dream? How magnificent is your soul? Before you go to bed tonight, ask yourself this question: What can one person do to change the world and make it better for all human kind? How much longer will you endure the petty and the mundane? Is your dream worth so little to you that you would rather squander your whole life away rather than finding a way to make it happen? A magnificent soul is never intimidated by consensus reality. The world needs your gift. Will you deny it?