Most youngsters and I would argue all of us at one time or another had dreams of things we'd like to do in our life. Unfortunately these dreams often get pushed so far back in our minds we forget about them. Worse yet, some people forget they ever had dreams at all. Dreams give us direction, hope and a vision for our future. A great movie was made several years ago titled, "The Bucket List". If you haven't seen it, you owe it to yourself to watch it. I also want to mention a young lady I met this past year who told me that she only had one thing left do on her bucket list. My response was to tell her she's pretty young to run out of things to strive for, and suggested that she start looking for more things that stir her soul, and dream bigger dreams. At least at the age of 18, she was working toward achieving things she identified as being important to her. Most people her age have all but given up on their dreams and convinced themselves that they were unrealistic in the first place. It's important to realize that no matter what our age, we don't have to give up on the dreams that stir our soul.
The question that begs to be asked is how do we rekindle or continue to nurture our dreams and start living the life we at one time dreamed about?
There's an old saying that goes like this, "If you hang around with dogs, you get fleas." Another one is, "If you hang around with skunks, you'll start smelling like a skunk." The point is that we tend to take on some of the attributes of those we hang around with. If you want more proof, consider the typical "water cooler" conversations that take place in many places of employment around the country. If people start talking about the big game last night, pretty soon everyone is drawn into the discussion, whether or not they were interested in the game in the first place. If people start complaining about . . . you pick the topic, it's tough to find someone who stays there and doesn't engage in comments of the same flavor during the conversation. You have three choices: Contribute to the negativity, stay and just listen or remove yourself. Few people choose the third option.
The other thing that happens is that if we hang around complainers long enough, we start to complain ourselves. If we listen to others complain enough, and we engage in similar statements ourselves soon we start to think negatively as well. There is power in association to change thinking. This can be a good thing, or a bad thing. Every place we go, we have the power to either be a thermostat or a thermometer. We can merely reflect the "temperature" of the group, or we can change the temperature. The choice is up to us.
Now the title I gave this post was, "Nurturing your dream and living the life you deserve", and one key starts with this very idea of association. Another saying that some of you may have heard is this: "IF YOU HANG AROUND DREAMERS, YOU'LL GET DREAMS." The idea behind this statement is again in the power of association. People who are now living the life they once dreamed of are those who never lost their dreams. One of the best ways to live out the life we deserve is to listen to and associate with people who still have dreams. Eventually, through the power of association, we can start to develop our own dreams.
I'll never forget the first time my wife and I had someone ask us about our dreams. I said, "I've got lot's of things that I want to do, more than you have time for." Then I asked my wife, what about you? Sadly, the only thing she said was, "I'd like to retire a little earlier." I was shocked! The only thing she dreamed about was retiring earlier, and I had hundreds of things that I could still see us/me doing. The thing is we never talked about it - NEVER!! In my ignorance, I assumed everyone had a bucket list full of dreams that they were working for. I guess I was wrong. My wife was a prime example of someone who had to have the dreams of her youth drawn out and nurtured. Now this isn't her fault, it's sort of societal in nature. Most of our parents haven't lived out the dreams from their youth either. It is sort of a learned behavior. Most people go through a cycle where they first frequently share dreams out loud, next they seldom share dreams out loud, next they dream frequently but in quiet, next they dream very little and finally they forget their dreams.
Without a dream, our lives have no direction. Without a dream, we lack focus. Thoreau said, "Most men live lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with the song still in them." The reason for this "quiet desperation" is lack of focus and direction which leads to complacency and often depression. Many times we've had so many people tell us what we can't do, we don't often consider what we can do. We don't have to live that way. We can find something to refocus our lives. We can find what gives our lives direction. We can still have those things we wanted in our youth.
So how do we dream again? Here are some keys to developing and achieving your dreams from long ago.
First - - Hang around with people who still dream. If you don't have dreams of your own, get wrapped up in theirs. Dreams are both inspiring and contagious. Anger, negativity and depression are also contagious although not inspiring. You get to choose which one you want to be influenced by.
If you hang around with dreamers you'll get dreams.
Second - - Purposefully think about things you used to want to do, places you wanted to go, who you wanted to be. Think about what stirs you soul today. Many people in my current circle of friends dream of things like: Being debt free, contributing to charities an amount they want to instead of what they can afford, traveling, firing their boss, owning a second home, etc. Maybe your dream includes some of these things. In essence living out our dreams mean we will be living a life of our priorities, not a life of our obligations.
Nothing happens but first a dream.
Third - - Get pictures of those things you really want to have, who you really want to be, where you want to go, etc. Post these pictures in places you are FORCED TO see them DAILY. Then write down your dreams and goals. The best way (perhaps the only way) to get something you want is to picture it so vividly inside your mind that your subconscious has that vision even when you're not thinking about it. In order to picture it this way, it must be seen continually. This vision needs to be so clear, that your subconscious mind sees you already possessing those very things you want so dearly. Once you convince your subconscious mind, your conscious mind will be able to do what it has to do in order to go along for the ride. You don't get what you want, you don't even get what you deserve -
YOU GET WHAT YOU PICTURE!
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