Have you seen the movie Inception? It is a great mind bender of a movie. One of the things that stuck with me from this movie was the concept of what they call a Totem.
The movie is all about dreams and going deep inside of dreams. Dreams within dreams even. In this movie a Totem is something physical the characters can hold on to that only they know about. Something they can cling to when everything gets crazy and they can’t tell dream from reality. 
Leonardo Dicaprio has a spinning top. If he spins that top and it just keeps on spinning, he knows he is still in a dream. Another character has a weighted pair of dice, he is the only one who knows the feel of those dice.
Tim and I have had the amazing opportunity to go to the last few Dave Ramsey live events and play for the crowd who is waiting to go into the event. This past weekend we were in Colorado Springs. The crowd was really great and we had so much fun. We got a few songs into the set and I look down to where I normally put the setlist and it was not there. I knew the list of songs pretty well in my head, but when I looked down and didn’t see that paper list, it threw me off. 
We were in the middle of singing Material Girl, I had a guy from the audience standing in front of me doing the robot and I am not sure what the next song is! Talk about not knowing what is reality!
At that moment I thought of the movie Inception. I realized the setlist was my Totem. I knew what was on it, but just having it there reassuring me of what was next helped me keep my bearings and not loose track of the ship.
I have other things that keep my head in check, other Totems if you will. My wife for one, keeps me from getting too full of myself. Reading the Bible and journaling everyday reminds me that all the amazing things and blessings I have are all from God.
I imagine a soldier who has been away from his or her family for a while and in some intense situations in a far away country. I wonder what kind of Totem they hold on to. I think of a newly elected President who had millions of people rooting for him and then has to make decisions that make those same people turn on him. I wonder what their Totems are.
Think about some of these things in your life. Hold on to them. Keep track of what reality is. Dreams sometimes seem very real.
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