2014-01-24: Getting in Touch With Your Dream

Are you feeling a dream inside of you struggling to emerge?  You are not alone.  This truly is a time of dream emergence, when we are all being called to be true to our authentic selves and bring our gifts forward.  If you’re feeling that internal tug, please don’t ignore it.  It’s a message from your own soul trying to get your attention.

So what if you are feeling that tug?  What do you do with it?  First and foremost, acknowledge what it is.  Sit with the feeling for a little while and get a sense of what the dream is that’s trying to break out.  Consider writing down some
notes on what you’re sensing.  What do you see yourself doing?  How does it feel when you’re doing it?  Who’s there?  Don’t judge what you’re writing down, and don’t worry about whether or not it’s achievable or how easily it can be accomplished.  Just make the notes for the sake of it… and to bring your dream further into present reality.
 
Now read over your notes and start to feel into your dream and think about it becoming a reality.  What do you feel?  Are you filled with excitement?  Do you cringe with disappointment or disbelief thinking that it’s too good to be true, a great idea that will never happen?  Does it feel doable?  If not, why not?  If you’re like many of us, chances are you’ll have some limiting beliefs about your dream. You may think it’s too much to hope for because [fill in the blank].  Write down whatever comes up.  This will help you get some clarity about what might be holding you back.  Remember that if we have the ability to dream it, we have the ability to achieve it.  The universe doesn’t give us the capacity to see what we cannot create.  If you’re seeing it and/or feeling it, you CAN create it.  So look at that list of reasons why you believe you CAN’T do it.  Know that all of these reasons are nothing more than FALSE beliefs.  A false belief is something that we’ve come to believe is true, even though it is not. We often create limitations around our lives about what we can do and achieve.  Sometimes our beliefs are so subconscious that we don’t even realize they are beliefs.  If you write some of these limitations down, you might discover that not everyone has these particular beliefs – that’s a big clue that it is a FALSE belief that you somehow innocently absorbed during the course of your life.  Some of these reasons that hold you back from your dream might be valid in the present moment.  For example, perhaps you need some training in order to accomplish your dream, and perhaps you need money for that training, etc.  There’s a difference, however, between saying you can NEVER accomplish your dream because of these reasons that you’ve written down… and with saying that you need to complete a few steps first (e.g., save some money for the class, take a second job to earn the money needed, find a class, set aside time to attend the class, etc.).  When we break down our limiting beliefs into smaller action steps, we can more easily see just how doable something is.

If you’re like me, you might be overwhelmed at first in seeing just HOW MUCH you have to accomplish in order to achieve your dream.  You might feel you have way too many things to overcome, or you might discover that there are a LOT of steps to get from where you are now to the end result.  That’s okay. Some dreams do take a little longer to achieve.  That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive for them nonetheless.  Every step we take brings us one step closer to our end result, our dream.  Sketch out the steps you feel you need to take, and then forget about the list and how long it might be.  It doesn’t matter how long the list is.  In fact, the whole list is bound to change over time anyway, with new ideas added and others removed as your dream evolves and takes shape.  Keeping that whole list in your head at any one time is bound to overwhelm you and cause you to feel that it’s just going to take too long to get it all done.  And feelings such as these may cause you to not even want to get started.  So here’s a little trick that may help you.  In any given moment, just focus on accomplishing “what’s next” on the list.  You might say to yourself that it could take you 5 years to get everything done and achieve your dream.  That may or may not be true.  But even if it were true, in 5 years, you’ll be 5 years older anyway. 
Why not be 5 years older and at last living your dream?  And in the meantime between now and then, you’ll be getting a step closer each and every day.  You might be surprised at how much you’ve accomplished at the end of the year, simply taking things one step at a time.  Seeing this accomplishment at the end of the year (or even at the end of the month) can also help motivate you!  And in the meantime, you’ll be pursuing your dream in some regard, even if you can only spend a little time each week.  And that pursuit, in and of itself, is bound to bring you some happiness and sense of fulfillment that you are on your way.
 
Any dream worth dreaming is a dream worth achieving!!!  Remember that your dream, however big or small, is something that is much needed in the world.  The world needs you to be your authentic you, whatever that is.  And no one can be you…quite like you can.  I’m often reminded of a song I learned on Schoolhouse Rock as a child:  “I’m the only me as far as I can see.”  Decades later this song haunts me still.  I’ll often hear it in my head during the day or wake up hearing it in the morning.  The song itself perhaps is not all that interesting.  In its entirety it’s just that one single sentence sung 4 times in a row.  Someone wrote that song, perhaps not appreciating how much it would one day touch this one woman’s life.  It taught me that it was okay to be different and in essence that we are ALL different.  Don’t ever underestimate the power and effect of your dream on others.  Be YOU!!!
 
Much love and blessings,

Raven