Dreams are lovely.  But they are just dreams.
Fleeting, ephemeral, pretty. 
But dreams do not come true
Just because we dream them.
It’s hard work that makes things happen. 
It’s hard work that creates change.
Shonda Rhimes

Dreams do not come true just because we dream them.  It takes work.  It takes action.

The universe will conspire to help you achieve your dreams, your goals.  But it will not hand you your goals on a silver platter.  You can’t win a lottery if you don’t buy a ticket or receive a ticket.  That’s the first step in winning the lottery.  The second step is harder, your numbers have to be picked.  But if you don’t even start with step one, then step two is impossible.   The same is true of any dream or goal you put on your Vision Board (Goal Board/Action Board.)  If all you do is put a picture on the board and do nothing else, then it won’t happen.

In a previous post, Why Vision Boards Don’t Work,  I wrote about the Parable of the Flood.  A man’s house was being flooded by the rising river.  Someone came in a canoe, a motorboat, and even a helicopter to rescue him, but each time he turned them away and said that God would rescue him.   The man drowned in the flood and when he met God in Heaven he asked why he didn’t help him.  God said, “Didn’t help you? I sent you a canoe, a motorboat, and a helicopter, what more did you want?”  You have to recognize your opportunities when they are in front of you.

And that is how a Vision Board works.  By looking at it every day, you are keeping your dreams and goals in front of you.  They are on your mind.  It’s now your job to recognize those opportunities that will help you meet your goals.  But you also have to recognize that those opportunities might not come with a pretty ribbon tied around them and be careful you are not turning down opportunities that were sent your way.

Consider the second story I told in that original blog post.  That one actually happened right in front of me.  A young man was telling people that he really wanted to work but that he couldn’t find a job because he didn’t have a car.  With each person he told, he would always add, “God will provide,” at the end of his story.  Later a gentleman walked up to him and said that he heard the young man needed a job and that he had a job for him at his plant.   Do you think the young man recognized the opportunity laid out in front of him?  That if he had a job, he could afford to buy a car?

Unfortunately, no.  He couldn’t see the bigger picture of having a job because he was so focused on the smaller picture of not having a car.

Don’t be that person.  Yes, you can set an intention.  Yes, you can manifest your dreams.  But both require you to actively work towards your dream. And they both require you to recognize the opportunities when they come your way.  Especially when those opportunities don’t exactly match what you’re looking for.