Have you ever had a dream that you knew was possible, but you couldn’t find a way to explain it to the people around you? You knew the what and the why, but you were still trying to figure out the how.

I have a dream that is turning into some goals. It is big. At least to me it is. I know the what and why, and I’m slowly starting to understand the how, but I also know that these things will change some as I progress.

The problem I’m having is expressing this dream to the people around me that need to know what it is, and could help me with it. I have been here before, and I find that most people don’t understand the dream and critisize it.

A year or two ago, a Guy Named Dave started a blog series called The 100 Things Challenge. His goal was to reduce his personal belongings down to one hundred things. I found it fascinating. Simplicity is something I have been seeking in my life, and this resonated with me.

I’ve followed the challenge for about a year now, though I’m not doing it. I’m inspired by the concepts Dave brings to light. 100 things is extreme, probably too extreme for most, myself included, but the fact that it can be done inspires me to always be reducing what I see as needs.

Dave posted recently about the common criticisms he receives. While reading it occurred to me that none of these criticisms were of Dave or The 100 Thing Challenge generally, they were about the tiny little details, the minutia. These people were criticizing the concept and ideas that Dave is trying to demonstrate because of tiny details. They are small minded and can’t see more than the little obstacle in their path.

I think most criticism comes from people who don’t understand the concept behind the idea they are rejecting, and they use tiny little details that don’t matter to reject something they can’t grasp.

As I develop this dream into a plan with definable goals and processes, there may be some details here and there that won’t work. So what? There will be big and small failures, or as Thomas Edison said – lessons on how not to do it. I’m looking forward to those learning experiences.

What is this dream of mine? Well, I am still trying to flesh it out in writing, so that I can completely understand it. There will be more posts about this in the future.