(ThyBlackMan.com) For decades we have celebrated the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. I went to school with his kids. My father went to Morehouse College with him and my mother knew Coretta. We have streets named after him, holidays, essay contests and parades. Clearly we as a people have not arrived at the place King dreamed of, but that does not mean you cannot launch and reach your own dream. Does anybody else out there even have a dream? A vision? A plan?
Can we celebrate another man’s dreams and follow our own?
We could but you and I know that most people don’t.
I take nothing away from Martin Luther King Jr. I am not here to speak against our President of the United States. But neither of them are gods, saviors or magicians and your destiny is in your hands, not theirs. So if you are waiting for someone else to lead you to the promise land, wake up, get up and start making it happen because your new leader is in your mirror. The million dollar question is why are you trying to live King’s dream when you should be trying to reach the goals of your vision?
NOBODY ELSE CAN DREAM FOR YOU BECAUSE ONLY YOU CAN FULFILL YOUR UNIQUE PURPOSE
Living, commemorating, celebrating and hoping in someone else’s dream often means that a person does not have his 
or her own. What is your dream, or better yet, what is your vision? Do you have a plan? Have you established a timetable or deadlines and well-defined goals? What are you waiting for? No money is not the problem because if you do your research, you will find out there are many ways to reach your goals by starting small. Therefore start where ever you can, but start.
No you are no waiting on God because God stays ready. So if there is anyone who is not ready, it’s you. You should not be waiting on others to see your vision and join in. They may not see it until later because remember, it’s YOUR vision, not theirs. You may even say you don’t have the time. But that is an excuse because we make time for those things we really want to do.
Your purpose, your plan and your potential must all line up with your willingness to drop the excuses and pursue your dream or vision, not someone else’s. Fear may be a factor but the only way you will conquer that fear is to step out and do what you need to do. If our leaders of the past made excuses and waited on other people, we would not have any leaders of the past and African Americans would still be drinking at “colored” water fountains or stuck on the plantation.
IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO BLAZE YOUR OWN TRAIL, NOT JUST FOLLOW SOMEONE ELSES
So as you remember Martin Luther King Jr., his holiday, the festive celebrations and commemoration, President Obama and so many other great leaders, realize they were examples – not saviors. Realize if they followed their dreams, you should be following yours. Realize they did not make excuses so neither should you. Realize in many ways they did the impossible because they realized their goals were not impossible after all. You must overstand the very same thing about your purpose, your goals, your dreams and your visions.
Stop trying to live someone else’s dream. We can acknowledge their accomplishments and honor them, as well we should. But neither should ever replace the fact that YOU have work to do. You have a unique purpose. You don’t have to be like anybody else nor do what anyone else has done. But you do have to be who you were destined to be or you will be cheating yourself out of the greatness that waits for you. Wake up. No more excuses. Stop celebrating someone else’s dreams when you could and should be making yours happen.
Staff Writer; Marque-Anthony