In life, many thoughts are born in the course of a moment, an hour, a day. Some are dreams, some visions. Often, we are unable to distinguish between them. To some, they are the same; however, not all dreams are visions. Much energy is lost in fanciful dreams that never bear fruit. But visions are messages from the Great Spirit, each for a different purpose in life. Consequently, one person's vision may not be that of another. To have a vision, one must be prepared to receive it, and when it comes, to accept it. Thus when these inner urges become reality, only then can visions be fulfilled. The spiritual side of life knows everyone's heart and who to trust. How could a vision ever be given to someone to harbor if that person could not be trusted to carry it out. The message is simple: commitment precedes vision.  ~~ High Eagle     Dreams vs. Visions What's the difference?  When is a dream just a dream?  High Eagle says that we often don't know the difference between a dream and a vision. Many of us feel they are the same. But are they?  What makes one different from the other? Are all dreams visions? Why not? What do you think? What High Eagle goes on to say is that Visions are more than mere dreams. Visions come from the Great Spirit. They are messages that are different for each person because they are for different purposes in life.  These are your life's purpose. This is what I believe High Eagle is talking about. What is your purpose in life? I think the second part of this quote is the the key to understanding what High Eagle says. To have a vision, one must be prepared to receive it, and when it comes, to accept it. As I was growing up, I had a dream. I wanted to be a teacher, to share my knowledge and skills with others. At the time I wasn't ready to receive that vision of where I needed to be. I wasn't ready to accept it. I thought of other things. I wanted to make more money than what I thought teachers made at the time. I wanted to experience other thrills in life. I wanted to be somebody important. I wanted to be successful. What happens to a lot of us as we get older, we start wondering if we made an impact with our life. Were we able to be significant to others, our fellow man? Did we live a life of significance and purpose. Sometimes it isn't until we reach this point in our lives that we start thinking about that higher calling, that purpose. What is our calling? What is our purpose? One of my favorite quotes is by Mark Twain. It hangs on my wall. The two biggest days in our life are the day we are born and the day we find out why. [bctt tweet="The two biggest days in our life are the day we are born and the day we find out why. ~~ Mark Twain" username="GoalsPodcast"] The day we find out our why, our purpose, is one of the most important days because when that happens we learn how to be significant. We are now ready to receive the vision, we are ready to accept it. Learning our purpose, our calling will turn those urges we have had into reality and we will then be able to receive and fulfill the real visions, the goals we need to achieve that purpose. Receive your vision We have to be ready to receive it and accept it and then we will have the commitment needed to be able to achieve those visions and make them reality.  This get's back to one of the key motivators for Successful Goal Achievement - Knowing Your Why! When you know your why, you will be able to keep the commitment to your visions, your goals. When you work toward your purpose, what you are meant to be, to do, then you will be able to turn your visions into reality. Taking the actions necessary will turn those dreams into visions. Are you working on visions or dreams? I think this is why many of us have not been able to achieve our dreams. A dream has no action, no commitment.  A vision when realized as a part of