Birthday Dreamin’

 

 

By Kaitlin Rogers

Last month Meghann and I had the pleasure of meeting Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow and hearing him speak about his remarkable organization, Mary’s Meals. As he spoke, he revealed that his genuine vision is for every child in this world to receive at least one meal each day.

He realizes this means providing meals for 67 million chronically hungry children. Yet, his goal remains. Every child in this world should receive at least one meal every day.

The entirety of Magnus’s speech was moving, but what struck us most was this exclamation:

When I share my vision, people look at me like I’m crazy, and for a while even I believed myself to be crazy to have this goal. But then I realized: wanting every child to eat once daily is an enormous goal, but what is really crazy is that, in this world of plenty, there are currently children who do not eat one meal a day.

“That,” he said, “ is madness.”

Thank you, Magnus, for this brilliant insight. What a poignant perspective.

This provided us the assurance needed to tackle our own lofty goals. This mentality is so refreshing. Think of your own goals, big and small, and apply this outlook.

 

 

Accepting that the way things are is crazier than the way things ought to be is a relief! It means that our goals are possible because, in some way, the way we currently live makes less sense than the way we aspire to live. The difficulty always lies in dedication to those goals and careful, determined execution, but with that right dose of dedication and execution, our goals are possible.

 

 

I recently read a poem by a very talented young poet, Kiele Marston. Her piece concluded with the stanza:

I will stand up for myself and fight now
And live the life that only I allow.

 

Live the life that only I allow. So much of this life is out of our control, but we do have the power (and we owe it to ourselves!) to allow ourselves to fight for our goals because, often, when it comes to our own goals, we are the ones standing in the way.

 

 

 

 

Today is Meghann’s birthday. Meghann is someone who thinks BIG, dreams BIG, acts BIG, and loves BIG. She is an inspiration to many. Meghann, as you look ahead to this next year, I hope you will continue to set and achieve sky-high goals. You have created something extraordinary, and this is only the beginning. Love you!