"You create your thoughts, your thoughts create your intentions, and your intentions create your reality." ― Wayne W. Dyer
What I really want is to enjoy the time I have left—not just enjoy my time, but thrive, damn it. Don't we all? I realize life is both magical and messy. Sometimes exquisite and unbearable—all at the same time. Yet, I prefer to dwell in the house of laughter, love, and an appealing calm. Is that expecting too much? I didn't think so, but what do I need to be doing to make this a reality? [Six of you private messaged me about getting a dog—Bahaha]
The other day, I saw some parasailers sailing across the late afternoon sky, dipping in the breeze and rising again with the next gust of wind. I watched them float over the ocean and sandy cliffs of Carmel, doing the thing I can only do in my dreams—fly. I was on the back of our tandem at the time, and honestly, my first thought was, darn, I'm too old to do that.
It seems as if my whole life, I have been too young, too old, not rich enough, not educated enough, not talented enough, not bold enough, or just not ready to pursue the things I have decided are beyond my reach.
But sometimes I did. What was the difference?
I think it has something to do with seeing beyond the chaos of one's own menial thoughts and just going for it. We've all heard Cynthia Occelli's theory, "For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out, and everything changes. To someone who doesn't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction."
I'm still exploring the fullness of this wisdom, but for some reason, it reminds me of scrambled eggs. See where my mind goes?
This week, our beloved neighbors, Debbie and Ron, decided to secure a dream they'd been fostering for a long time. Believe me, it was not a comfortable or orderly process.
Larry and I were planning a quick trip to the lake to set up some mouse traps to relocate a few squatters who had moved into the lake house uninvited. They are sneaky little critters. In fact, we discovered that they had created little mouse doors in about eight of the screens off the lanai.
A literal mouse freeway.
Anyway, Debbie and Ron had an appointment to see a lake house in the neighboring community, and we invited them to stay at the mouse-infested house with us—an irresistible invitation if there ever was one.
The four of us piled into the Volvo and headed up Wednesday afternoon. While Larry and I set mouse traps, Debbie and Ron explored the home of their dreams. By late afternoon, an offer was on the table.
And now we wait patiently for the messy negotiations to begin.
The point is that they harbored a dream and are making it a reality through years of research, decades of saving, a strong vision, enormous perseverance, and courage. Dreams don't usually knock on your door; we have to pursue them.
I just asked my sister Nancy and cousin Vicky to name a few things people pursue. They both said "sex" at the exact same time. Here I was, thinking about my health, a reservation at The French Laundry, or that Prada purse I've had my eye on for ten years.
A dream is an answer to a simple question. What do I really want?
Okay, maybe it's not that simple, but the possibilities are endless because we all want different things. Thank God. Imagine if we all wanted to ride across Iowa on a tandem bike. It would be absolute mayhem. We'd be waddling around in padded bike shorts, wearing fingerless gloves and odd-looking helmets while sweating profusely. It would be nuts (Only a few of you will get how funny that is).
The beauty of this mystery is the diversity of our dreams. Some of us want a new lifestyle, a new job, an education, an opportunity to travel, maybe a relationship with God or the guy down the street. Some want tickets to see Taylor Swift, or a svelte body, maybe a 911 Porsche with chrome wheels, and an open road (Larry will appreciate this example).
Part two is where it gets tricky because we have to figure out what we need to do to make our dreams a reality. What if finding that dream job meant going back to school to earn a new degree, starting an aggressive savings program so we can afford our dream house, changing our lifestyle if we want to be healthy, dropping a bad habit that's acting as a roadblock, and doing the hard work to heal our old wounds before finding someone to love?
I'm starting to believe that guy from Nazareth was on to something when he said, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
It begins with a thought. Not to be clique, but think about that for a minute. If our thoughts create our reality, then let's get very clear about what we tell ourselves. If we keep focusing on our limitations instead of our potential, this might be how we get stuck. How can we expect change if we think the same thoughts, day after day, which lead to the same behaviors and outcomes? I have to shift my thinking from defeating to uplifting, especially if I want to parasail over the ocean.
Are we ready for something different? Hell yes.
What I've discovered for myself is that I am creating my future one thought at a time. In fact, I think our secret power is not our charm, wealth, or alarming good looks. It's our imagination.
And guess what? We can develop our creative capacity because we all have unlimited potential in this department.
I have read many times that each of us is born with an important purpose and that together, we have the necessary skills to meet the world's current needs. Therefore, people like Edison, Einstein, Bell, Tesla, Wright, and Jobs were not freaks of nature; they were essential for their time, dreamers, if you will. One of them had the imaginative proclivity to conduct a new reality in a wicked storm with a kite and a string.
So enlightening.
Even though most of them were misunderstood, they changed the world forever. They gave birth to something the world had never experienced. If we all could just believe in our own incredible ingenuity, what a world it would be.
I've been noticing how often I allow fear to take the lead. Bonnie Ware says the biggest regret of the dying is they wish they had dared to live the life true to themselves, not the life others expected of them. If there are things that you want to do in this life but you're waiting for more favorable circumstances, remember, the only time we have is the present. Give yourself permission to manifest your crazy dreams today. Find your joy, pursue it, claim it. Life is always going to be both miraculous and messy, but the power to create what we desire has always been within our reach—it's just a thought away.
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