MAINTAINING YOUR DREAMS
This month we are celebrating the declaration of our national
independence in 1776. Men and women took a stand against tolerating
the restriction of individual and community freedom. Where
would we and our country be today if our founding fathers
in Philadelphia hadn’t committed their vision to paper?
Perhaps you, too, declared your independence, beginning to
free yourself to live with personal power and inner peace,
when you subscribed to this newsletter and/or engaged in a
coaching program. What better time than now for you to state
your intentions and wake to the possibilities of your powerful
choices.
Have you been tolerating your current situation and longing
to break free? Do you evaluate new opportunities based on
what you think is possible or on how much you’ll get
paid? Are you listening to the whispers of your Soul’s
desires?
To avoid having your tombstone read, “S/he made choices
based on other people’s preferences because they seemed
to control the purse strings,” you first need to know
what you want and know that it is possible. Maybe you’re
someone who’s not clear about what you want. Then you’re
probably living in your head too much and you need to start
consulting your big toe! I’m serious. The mind can distort
and distract you. Your body will tell you the truth. It will
open you up to possibility consciousness. If you’re
not receiving answers to your questions, then look at the
quality of your questions. Are they laden with worries?
Here are some common obstacles to having a dream/vision:
~~ You distract yourself by going into a task-mode. You get
caught up in the details and so-called facts of your life.
~~ You allow yourself to get confused by thinking too much
and get lost in the clutter of your doubt.
~~ You place your attention on the potential burden of making
your dream happen and feel exhausted before you even begin.
~~ You keep yourself from dreaming because you fear that
your dream may never materialize. Is pushing it away causing
it to materialize any faster?
~~ You protect yourself from disappointment. Is your life
more fulfilled by dreaming less? Does staying locked up inside
cause you to feel more free?
Maintaining a dream requires that you let go of your limited
thinking. Examples of such thoughts include the following:
I’m too old.
I don’t have all of the skills required.
It might not pay enough.
It will take too long.
What if I fail?
What will others think? (and so on)
Acknowledge your concerns and anxieties and then let them
go, with love. It’s been said that anxiety is living
the future in the present! Unfortunately, most people only
move toward their dreams when they can no longer tolerate
where they are—when the pain gets so great that the
fear of the unknown no longer seems so bad. In acknowledgment
and celebration of our country’s independence, consider
taking the next step toward your personal independence. What
declarations or decrees are you willing to make for your life
right now?
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A DREAM REALIZED (author unknown)
The first day of school our professor introduced himself
and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t already
know. I had stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched
my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled little old
lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire
being. She said, “Hi, handsome. My name is Rose. I’m
eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?” I laughed
and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!”
And she gave me a giant squeeze. “Why are you in college
at such a young, innocent age?” I asked. She jokingly
replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get
married, and have a couple of kids.” “No, seriously,”
I asked. I was curious about what might have motivated her
to take on this challenge at her age. “I always dreamed
of having a college education and now I’m getting one!”
she told me.
After class we walked to the student union building and shared
a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day
for the next three months, we would leave class together and
talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized when listening to this
“time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience
with me. Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus
icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved
to dress up and reveled in the attention bestowed on her by
the other students. She was living it up.
At the end of the semester, we invited Rose to speak at our
football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught
us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she
began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three-by-five
cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed, she
leaned into the microphone and simply said, “I’m
sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this
whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back
in order, so let me just tell you what I know.”
As we laughed, she cleared her throat and began, “We
do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because
we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young,
being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and
find humor every day. You’ve got to have a dream. When
you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking
around who are dead and don’t even know it! There is
a huge difference between growing older and growing up. It
you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year
and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty
years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed
for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.
Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent
or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity
in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t
have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did
not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”
She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The
Rose.” She challenged each of us to study the lyrics
and live them out in our daily lives. At the year’s
end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those
years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully
in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended
her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by
example that it’s never too late to be all you can possibly
be.
[Lest you think this is just a nice story and wonder, how
realistic is it, really? I’d like to add that my mother’s
dear friend (now departed) made a similar commitment at age
65 after her husband passed. She fulfilled her lifelong wish
to graduate from college, which she did four years later at
age 69 with a degree in gerontology. An inspiration to both
young and old, she brought much joy to her work in geriatrics,
before she joined her husband on the other side. It’s
never too late! ~~ Barbara]
Copyright © 2003 by Barbara McRae. All
rights reserved. If you wish to reprint this article, please
contact me at barbara@enhancedlife.com.
Thank you!
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