A Journey of Becoming: When Your Vision is Bigger Than Your Current Reality and Others' Expectations
When you’re walking with a vision that feels bigger than the life you’re currently living, when it stands taller than the expectations others have set for you, it’s like following a distant star in a dark sky—a guiding light that draws you toward a future only you can chart. It’s a whisper in your bones, a call deep in your gut, a knowing that says, “You were meant for something more.”
But the world sees you where you are, not where you’re going. They see the smallness of now, the echoes of your past, and they build their expectations around it like walls. They don’t see the stretch, the reach, the yearning that burns beneath your skin. They see what you’ve been, not what you’re becoming. But you, you have to hold tight to that vision like a lifeline.
It’s a lonely thing, this distance between where you stand and where you want to be. But that loneliness, that ache, it’s not meant to break you; it’s meant to drive you forward. There will be voices, close ones, kind ones, who tell you to temper your dreams, to take the safe route. They’ll try to soothe the sting of your ambition with words like “realistic” and “practical,” not knowing that these words taste like dust in your mouth.
They don’t mean harm. They want to protect you from falling. But they don’t understand that sometimes, falling is the only way to learn how to fly. Their care is well-meaning, but it’s not the kind of love you need. You need the kind that burns, that stokes the fire in your belly and makes you take that next step even when the road is rough, even when the sun has set and there is no clear path in sight.
You have to move forward, now, today. Not when you feel ready—because “ready” is a mirage in the desert of ambition. You become the thing you’re chasing by walking toward it, by speaking its language even when your tongue stumbles. You act like the person you’re destined to be, not in arrogance but in preparation, in faith that one day the world will catch up to the vision you carry inside.
Think of all those who stood in boardrooms or classrooms, who sat in the corner office or behind the podium, who were doing the work before they got the title. They carried themselves like they belonged there, long before anyone else knew. Life doesn’t give you the luxury of arriving fully formed. It throws you in before you feel ready, leaves you to swim when your legs are still weak. And in that struggle, in the pushing against the tide, you begin to find yourself.
You’re swimming in a vast ocean, and there’s no land in sight. The waters stretch out endless, indifferent, beneath a sky that offers no direction. And yet you swim, because you know—deep down, beyond all reason—that land exists, that it is out there somewhere, waiting. It’s not a question of if you’ll reach it, but of how long you’ll endure, how fiercely you’ll push against the waves.
But as you swim, you must also guard your soul. There’s a danger in reaching so far that you forget the ground beneath your feet, forget the people who walked with you when your dreams were just whispers. The pursuit of greatness can turn cold, can cut through love and leave you standing alone on that distant shore. And what good is reaching that place if, in the process, you’ve lost the very essence of your humanity, the humanity that made you, you?
No one arrives all at once or fully developed. This journey is a slow dance with time, a steady climb. Each day, you take a step, make a move, speak your truth. And those steps, small though they may seem, accumulate like raindrops until they become a river. That river will carry you closer to your vision, as long as you have the courage to step into the current and trust its flow.
Not everyone will understand your becoming, but some will—some will see the shape of your heart in the steps you are taking, and they’ll walk with you, even when the way ahead is unclear. And sometimes, the ones who help you find your way will come from places you never expected, from corners of the world you never thought to look.
But through all this, keep asking yourself, “Who am I becoming?” Because the vision is not just about the destination; it’s about the self you shape along the way. It’s about the man, the woman, the soul that emerges from the struggle, from the uncertainty, from the late nights and early mornings when you wonder if it’s all worth it.
So when you reach that distant shore—when you find your feet planted firmly in the soil of your dreams—let it be with a heart that’s full, a spirit that’s unbroken, and a self that you recognize and love. Let it be with the pride of knowing you stayed true to the rhythm of your own becoming, even when the song was hard to hear.
Keep swimming, keep reaching, keep becoming. And know that every stroke, every breath, every step is a part of that vision, that grand vision, that soul-shaking vision, coming to life. It’s not about getting there tomorrow. It’s about the beauty of being in motion, of refusing to settle for anything less than the full measure of your spirit.
This is your journey, your becoming—walk in it well.
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✌🏽. ❤️. 📈 . 🤲🏾