Field of Dreams is one of my favorite movies. It means more to me now that it did when I first saw many years ago. This movie speaks to me loud and clear about following your inner voice and following your passion and dreams. Yes the movie is about baseball, but it is also about so much more.
Just a brief recap for anyone who has not seen this movie (by the way SEE THIS MOVIE); Ray Kinsella is a corn farmer in Iowa and one night while walking through his crop, he hears a voice say “if you build, they will come.” At first he thinks he is going crazy but then after hearing the voice again and again he decides to replace some of his corn crop with a baseball field. With time, people do come, famous deceased baseball players to be exact. Only Ray can see them in the beginning and later his wife and daughter. Ray still is uncertain that building a baseball field on his farm was a the right thing. Later the voice tells Ray something else “ease his pain”. Ray doesn’t know what this means but goes on a quest to find the 1960’s author Terrance Mann who has since become a recluse and dreamed of playing baseball as a child. Ray convinces Mann to attend a baseball game with him in Boston, MA where another “sign” is given to Ray in the scoreboard at the ball field. Surprisingly, Mann also sees the “sign” and Ray hears the third command from the voice “go the distance”. It is as this point that Ray realizes he is to go find Archibald Graham, a baseball player who only played in major league baseball game and never went to bat. Mann agrees to travel with Ray to find Graham and convince him to travel back home to Iowa with him to see his baseball field. Ray and Mann find Graham and convince him to travel to Iowa. He agrees and is finally able to play the game he gave up so long ago to be a doctor.
So you maybe thinking, what does all of this have to do with a life lesson. Thank you for your patience as I will now tell you. This movie is about following your passion. Ray’s passion in life was baseball and more importantly, living a life that was worth something, unlike how he remembered his father living his life. Like any of you who have followed your passion, in the beginning, only you see you it. There is this inner voice inside telling you, pulling you, guiding you, into unchartered waters that at first seem scary but then with time it seems scarier not to listen to that voice. At first it may be confusing, you may not know where you should be going or what you should be doing, but you just have to open yourself up to the possibility of anything. Once you begin to find your direction, your focus, your begin to see the vision of what life has in store for you. You keep your ideas to yourself in the beginning fearing being judged, but soon, you are consumed by the thought of what could be. Then you start sharing that dream, that vision with those you love. They support you and begin to see your vision. With time, as your vision grows, others will begin to see and believe in what you have to offer the world and soon you will be unstoppable.
This movie spoke to me when I was thinking of starting my own coaching and training business. I felt a pull to help people and thought about starting my own business. The idea was scary and I thought that maybe if I just ignored the voice it would go away. But it didn’t, it only got louder and it would not be ignored. Soon, I couldn’t stop thinking about it and that was all I wanted to do. I began to share that vision with my friends and family. I feared they would think that I was crazy, but instead they supported me and knew that I was going down the right path. As time went on, I began to take steps to make my dream and vision into a reality. Today, I have my own coaching and training business and I am happier than ever.
What is your inner voice saying to you? Where are your passions driving you? How can you make that inner voice into a vision and then into a reality? Don’t be afraid to live your dream, be afraid not to.