I have all I need

I like my little Toyota Corolla, but it lacks one feature I would love to have. On my old car, a Jeep Liberty, I could listen to the radio and simultaneously see what song was playing and who was singing it. A text message of sorts came across the radio display with these details. I really need that, because I do not keep up with a lot of popular culture and have no idea who the different groups are. Sometimes I will hear a beautiful arrangement of a song and have no idea who is performing it.

On my commute this morning, I was listening to a local station that plays nothing but Christmas music at this time of year, and song after song played as I wound my way to Ellsworth in the dark. The only voices I could recognize were Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole. All the other singers were foreign to me. Suddenly my eyes fell upon a button marked TEXT. I decided to push it just to see what happened. Lo and behold, the name of the song scrolled across the display, followed by the name of the performer. What a surprise - I had that capability the whole two years I've owned the car - and never realized it!

The situation reminded me of a children's sermon I used to give, which went something like this: A woman of modest means wanted to go on a cruise. She scrimped and saved until she finally had enough money for the ticket. She realized, though, that she didn't have any extra for food, so she packed a bag of cheese and crackers, and while the other passengers enjoyed the delicious buffets, our heroine stayed in her cabin, eating her self-imposed ration of cheese and crackers. On the last day of the cruise as she exited the ship, she discovered that the price of her ticket had included all the food, too! She could have feasted, but instead she existed on her limited snacks. The potential was there all the time - only she never realized, so she couldn't use it.

I read somewhere that we only use a fraction of our brains. Our potential for intelligence and creativity is far greater than we make use of. We think it's because we don't have enough power, when in reality, we have had it all along. Only we never realize it.

As the year draws to a close and I make my list of what I want to accomplish in 2007, I must remind myself to dream big. I know I have the energy, determination, intelligence, and skill to bring my dreams to life - I just have to tap into them. I'll take my cue from Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, who had her eureka moment after much turmoil. I don't want to discover too late that I had the power of the ruby slippers the whole darn time.