by Gene Strother, borrowed from Word Warrior
👓Crystal Vision
Before Adjust U existed, it lived in my heart and mind. The same with The Preacher’s Kid, Word Warrior, and Moonshine Love.
I could see each of them as clearly as I could see the traffic jams on Highway 183, as clearly as I could see the dirt caked on my truck after a long cross-country deployment, as clearly as I could see the stunned faces of the overflow crowd in the sanctuary on the day I resigned my last pastorate. I saw those visions as clearly as I could see the pizza box in my trunk as I retrieved it to deliver it with a forced smile and the hope of a generous tip. They were as real to me as the snoring drunk in the backseat of the Yellow taxi cab I was driving well after midnight on a Friday.
I saw them before they existed.
I did, however, forget to see the check. Jim Carrey did not.
💰The Ten Million Dollar Man
As Oprah said, “Who would have thought, in all of the years of the Oprah Show, that Jim Carrey would be one of our greatest teachers?”
Carrey told Oprah and her audience that when he was jobless, he drove up to Mulholland Drive to imagine himself living there and his phone ringing off the hook with offers for movies. He stayed there and imagined it until it felt real.
“I wrote myself a 10 million dollar check,” he said, “and carried it in my wallet.”
He had post-dated the check for a certain date. The check became worn and was deteriorating over time, but just before the date on the check, he landed a movie that paid him exactly $10 million.
🐭Disney, Not Disney? Who Cares?
You probably know that Walt Disney’s most famous quote is, “If we can dream it, we can do it.”
It is such an inspiring thought, and Disney is an inspiring dreamer. The trouble is, he apparently never said it at all. It was an unknown Copywriter for General Electric named Cherylyn Silverstein who wrote it as part of a recruitment campaign to attract new employees to share their vision and shoulder the work of their dreams.
Silverstein also wrote Olive Garden’s famous slogan, “When you’re here, you’re family.”
🏹Dream…UP!
When I opened Adjust U in Grand Prairie, I made use of a privacy wall in the facility. It hid the restrooms from the lobby. The wall is the first thing you see when you walk in. I decided to design a logo that had a collegiate look and feel (hence, Adjust U). Underneath the logo was the tag line, Dream Up!
As a boy, I had what my mother described as an overactive imagination. I had imaginary friends. She had to interact with them, set a place at the table for them, be careful not to shut them out when I was coming in from playing outside. I dreamed up worlds and lived in them.
I still do in the short stories, poetry, and novels I write.
I’ve always been a dreamer.
I thought about that phrase, “Dream up,” and I thought, “If you are going to dream, then dream UP.”
Imagine yourself better. Imagine doing more. Imagine living on a higher plane. Imagine raising the stakes. Imagine hitting the jackpot. Imagine closing the deal. Imagine yourself in that house and neighborhood you love. Imagine your relationships fulfilling. Imagine. Dream. Up.
I am not saying that we can all cash Jim Carrey’s check. You may be Carrey, or you may be Cherylyn. You may land the big parts and cash the massive checks. Or, you may write the slogans everyone quotes but no one knows it is you they quote.
Either way, you made your mark. You made the world a better place. You dreamed it. You did it. Cash that check, even if it isn’t money in the bank. It may be the satisfaction of relentlessly pursuing your dream well past the “good enough” stage. It may shine in the eyes of someone you inspired, or beat in the heart of your children. It may be your name on the business card or your foot in the door. It may be the cigar you smoke on the back porch at the end of a hard day of giving it all you have.
Dream. Up.