Write the Vision

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a total believer in writing down my goals, dreams, aspirations, etc. They also know that I am very much my mother’s child and, like her, I keep important things under my mattress. (Your mom and grandma do too, don’t they?!?) But if anyone ever checks beneath my mattress, they won’t find my birth certificate or gold coins. Instead, they’ll find slips of paper where I’ve proclaimed, in my best handwriting possible, what I want and am expecting to happen in my life. I’m lying, my birth certificate is under there too…

I hold fast to the Bible verse that says:

Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it. Because it will surely come. (Habakkuk 2:2-3)

I believe that we give life to our desires when we write them down or speak them aloud. For me, writing it down is powerful because it then becomes something tangible that I can refer back to over and over again. So just as I applied this practice to other things in my life, even growing up, I also wrote down, very plainly, my dreams of becoming a physician. I will become a doctor. I will be a really good doctor. My patients will love me. I will make a difference in people’s lives. I wrote it all down very early in my pre-med journey and, when times got hard, I pulled it out and re-read those words. I encourage you to do the same, for becoming a physician and whatever else you desire, big or small. If that means writing a huge A+ on top of your papers and tests before you hand them in (don’t laugh, I’ve done that! I meant this thing!), or notecards in your pocket or on your bathroom mirror saying that you will do well on exams, or will have a great interview, or will get the summer medical internship- do it! Write it down! Give life to what you want! 

Not only did I write down my goal of becoming a doctor, but I put it everywhere! Not that God needed reminding of what I desired, but sometimes I needed it! Because it didn’t say I might become a doctor or I want to be a doctor. No, it was a declarative statement, I will become a doctor. And I needed to see that fairly regularly, and in no uncertain terms, to really get it deep down within me. I take the part of the verse that says, so he may run who reads it, to mean us. I think it’s important to check back in on what you’ve stated as your long-term vision or goal. And every time you do, you should get a little quickening in your spirit that re-energizes you to keep going and to do your part in working towards it. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve written down a lot of things I wanted that God had nothing to do with. I mean He had absolutely no parts of ‘em, but I was out here pretending like we were on the same page! A hard lesson to learn is that everything we want isn’t always His plan for us. But at the same time, I think that trips some people up, and we quickly take a roadblock or setback to mean that our goal or vision won’t happen or isn’t meant to be. So, you may ask: Well how do I know if being a doctor is really what God has for me and not just something I want that isn’t going to happen? Trust me, I’ve been there too. But remember the part that says, at the end it will speak and it will not lie. So my answer to that question is simple: If being a doctor is the only thing you can see yourself doing as a career and even despite setbacks or hard times, it’s still all you think about… then it’s not just something you made up one day; it’s what God placed in your heart. Unlike people sometimes, I don’t think God is out here jerking us around or toying with our emotions. If He put a desire in you, He means for you to have it. And He’s not going to let your fire about it burn out. And while we all doubt our abilities sometimes, I don’t think we could ever really talk ourselves out of what is truly meant for us. Meaning if you can’t secure a shadowing spot, or don’t get your desired MCAT score the first time, or don’t do well on a Biology exam, you still won’t be able to make yourself believe that being a doctor isn’t in your future. In the same token, I think that if we want something that really isn’t meant to be for us, not only will He not allow it, but He’ll take our desire for it away completely. So if He hasn’t taken your desire to be a physician away, consider it what you’re meant to do. And remember that just because something doesn’t happen in the timeframe that you have created for it, doesn’t mean that it’s not in the masterplan for your life. As the verse says, it may tarry but wait for it, because it will surely come. Everything has an appointed time.

This weekend, write down your visions and goals for the future. Big or small, but definitely the BIG ones. Make them plain and declarative. And check back in on them regularly to keep yourself running towards them. After you’ve written down your vision(s), take a little time to do something nice for yourself this weekend. Then get back to those meaningful Summer plans that I know you have that put you closer to your white coat!