Have you ever seen the Endeavor in person?

I never thought much of it, until I stood beside its’ hulking mass of achievement and dreams.

I looked at the Endeavor and felt things. Things like pride, but also this other thing, this “wow-they-actually-did-it” kind of feeling.  When we are presented with these awe-inspiring achievements and accomplishments, we just kind of marvel at these giants of knowledge and confidence who produced them. Like the accomplishments, these people seem to be super-human, or special, they seem like… giants. ..

but, are they?

Everything has a past and a story of how it came about. Those big ideas started out small, as scribbles on paper, notes on napkins, long, laborious hours of unglorified research; there is always the humble or boring or tedious, untold story that props up that glamorous achievement.

This isn’t all so obvious to us though. When we see a beautiful flower, we think “Wow, what a beautiful flower”. Rarely, if ever, do we think  “Awesome soil”, or stop to consider the hours of labor and care, and the patience it took to await such results. We just marvel at the result, so magnificent, and convince ourselves that we could never achieve anything like it…

For every “big idea” I’ve ever had, I’ve been able to think of several good reasons why it’s not a good idea. I have Endeavor-sized-dreams and goals, but feel so small and unimportant, that I give up before I even try.

But as I stared at the Endeavor, I wondered,  what if those people, the people that dreamed of Endeavor, what if they had given up? What if they had convinced themselves it was impossible? Convinced themselves not to try, not to dream, or that they were too small and unimportant?

And then I thought, well heck,  why not me? Why not my ideas? Why not dream, try, and be unafraid to fail,  or look stupid? I am inspired by so many; why not share inspiration? Encourage dreams? Why does dreaming about the future stop in elementary school? When, who and how was it decided that “I can’t” ?

There will always be a reason to put it off until tomorrow. But there won’t always be tomorrow. There will always be naysayers. There will never be a “good time” to start, and there will always be someone else who is better, smarter or faster.

So. what.

Dream anyway.

I felt so many things when I saw the Endeavor because it represents so much more than just a scientific achievement, it is a reminder of dreams, small things, years of toil and persistence; all these wonderful and difficult things wrapped up into one goal, that if we allow and push ourselves, will bring us to places we never even dreamed possible. I want to be there, to see the places and things that I’ve never dreamed possible.

We’ve all got to start somewhere.

I think, I’ll start here.