Day Thirty-One

HOW DO YOU FIND THE PEOPLE TO TELL?

Without good direction, people lose their way; the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances.

—PROVERBS 11:14 MSG

When it comes to your dreams, you need to guard your heart. Your heart is precious, your dreams should only be shared with a few close friends, and you should love well but carefully. You need to allow love into your heart, but always remember to guard and protect it.

When you’re trying to figure out how to find the people you can trust with your dreams, ask yourself a few questions.

1. Who do I trust? Think about the people in your life. Does anyone make you feel uneasy? Are there some who always seem to be divulging personal details about other people? Don’t pick them.

2. Who isn’t too invested or emotionally involved in my life? There is absolutely a time to tell your dreams to your core group of people. But telling your core people about a dream you want to pursue could get hairy. You want to pick someone who wouldn’t lose his or her mind hearing, for example, that you might want to move. You want a more objective party.

Your heart is precious, your dreams should only be shared with a few close friends, and you should love well but carefully.

3. Who have I seen exhibit wisdom in their lives? Wise people live wise lives. Find them. Watch for them. And then keep them around your life.

4. Who have I seen repeatedly being trustworthy? You don’t want to share something so intimate and vulnerable with people who don’t seem to be very loyal or who don’t seem to pursue wisdom.

5. Who have I seen experience failure? Yes, you want to share this piece of you with someone successful. Yes, you want your dream to stay safe while it’s just a little flicker of something. But, boy oh boy, will you learn a lot from someone who has experienced failure.

Failure is often the best teacher. You might consider sharing your dream with someone who has pursued their dream and achieved it and with someone who mourned that dream and moved on to another.

BE BRAVE: Tell someone your dream. Whether you have a huge dream or something smaller, find someone you trust and tell that person.