Dreams
The dreams that we create for ourselves and our lives are so important. Having a dream can motivate us to take the steps needed to accomplish it. Dreams can give a shape and direction to our future lives and happiness.
We should all take time to dream. What goals would we like to achieve? What would truly make us happy? What sort of life would we like to experience?
As children we might have had many dreams of what we would be and what we would do when we “grow up”. No one lifetime would be long enough to fulfill all of these, so we choose one or two and try them out. Then life intervenes, as it always does, and we often must choose between our dreams and our present reality. When dreams conflict with reality, reality takes charge.
Or does it? Do dreams ever really die? If we once dreamed of being a dancer, isn’t there still a part of us that sees us on stage in a beautiful costume? Or we might have dreamed of being a doctor and saving lives. Our grades or finances might have prevented this dream from becoming real, or we might have discovered that we really don’t like icky sick people! But inside of us we see ourselves as a successful surgeon who would never faint at the sight of blood!
Ah, dreams or reality, which should we choose?
We live in whatever reality we have around us. This is not a bad thing. Reality is the way things are, right now. Comparing our reality with our dreams isn’t really fair to either one.
If we still have dreams that we haven’t accomplished, perhaps we should take a new look at them. Is there a part of our dream that we are already living? Is there a part of our dream that we are willing to work towards, even now?
Sometimes we find that our old dreams don’t really match with what we know about ourselves today. These old dreams can make us crazy and unhappy if we hold on to them. If we aren’t willing to work to make them real, maybe we should choose a completely new dream, one that we are willing to commit time and energy to making real.
One of the hardest dreams to let go of is the one of how our lives would be different if our dreams had come true. When we fall in love, we imagine how everything will be so perfect. We create a dream future with our dream mate. But what if our dream mate turns out to be not so dreamy after all? What if our dream life together doesn't happen? That dream future doesn't just go away, and if the relationship ends, we can find ourselves missing the dream more than the reality. We miss our dream mate more than the real person, we miss what could have been, more than what was. We can see this clearly if we think about it, but more often we never look at reality, instead we hold on to the dream that never was.
Perhaps it is time to dream again. Brush off your old dreams, examine them closely and keep the parts you still want. Make new dreams and try them out. Look at reality, yes of course, but let it be tinged with your dreams. Then take the first steps needed to see if you could make your dreams become real. This is the most powerful use of dreams - to lead us forward, not hold us back.
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Very well written, inspirational post @donna-metcalfe Thanks.
Go after your dreams don't get caught in the rat chase that is life ... Don't be too busy working for a life that you are working for life.
Amen!
Dreaming and just waiting for it to happen may lead to nothing. As the saying goes, "good things come to those who wait." But someone wiser augmented, "better things come to those who do something to make it happen."
Dream and let those dreams be inspiration to achieve more or keep going in reality. 😊
Yes, I believe that if you're not willing to do the work and commit the time to making a dream come true, then it is more a fantasy than a dream!
Fantasy! That's the correct word versus a dream. 😊
Excellent. Brush off the old dreams, make adjustments, and dream new dreams. :-)
I have a book on setting goals and time management. It suggests ways of choosing what is most important to you, eventually getting a top 5. Then for each of them you ask if you're willing to dedicate 30 minutes to work on it - just a small beginning - in the next week! And if you can't or won't do that, to think about whether it's a real priority.
Sounds like an excellent exercise, to help clarify what's truly important.
A practice I've used is that once I set a goal or decide that I'm going to do something, I do at least one thing every single day that has to do with the goal. If my life path goal, for example, is to work at an elephant sanctuary, then every single day I do something that's in alignment with that goal, be it contacting a sanctuary about volunteering, or doing research about elephants, or joining an online animal rescue group -- something.
The thought is that, if I was to achieve that goal of working with elephants, wouldn't I be immersed in some aspect of it every day anyway? I just start living like I've already reached that goal. :-D
That is exactly the kind of practice and persistence and focus that brings you to your goals! And very powerful to live as if you've already attained them.
Love your elephant sanctuary example!
In the years before I opened my herb shop I kept a notebook with details of designs and products and sources. I didn't always write in it every day but I read it most days. I even had a list of the refreshments I'd serve at my grand opening, down to the design of the cake! When the time came I was ready!
That's very cool, to keep a notebook like that. And to envision the cake at the grand opening. Love it! :-D
I'm a Life Coach, and the elephant sanctuary example comes from one of my clients. We worked out many steps and changes to get her to her dream life. Sadly, she only went part way (went on an African safari and visited an elephant sanctuary and came back inspired), but then let her old life get in the way and didn't continue down her dream path.
That gives the elephant sanctuary story a touch of sadness, but still an excellent example!
I'm sure you know about 'Treasure Mapping' (there are other names for it, like Vision Board). I was taught about them when I was a teenager and still use them for important things. My notebook was just a larger version - clippings, drawings, lists of all sorts.
I mentioned a book that helped me and as a Life Coach (what an awesome job!) you might like to check it out. It's How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life by Alan Lakein. I tended to be a terrible procrastinator and resist 'good advice'. But his approach wasn't the bossy 'do this, do that' kind of thing. It was more 'try this, try that, and if that doesn't work, try this other thing'. There wasn't anything for me to resist! Bless the man, he helped my break through my procrastination habit!
Sounds like a good book and a wonderful approach. I'll check it out, thanks!
My copy is dated 1973. Looks like there is an updated (?) version from 1989. Anyway there are many to choose from on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/How-Control-Signet-Alan-Lakein/dp/0451158024/
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