“Thoughts become things.”
“Visualize your dreams.”
“If you can imagine it, you can have it.”
We’ve all heard these words, and many of us are ardent followers of particular practices that help us realize their potency in our day to day lives.
Yet there are times for all of us when there is no new dream on the horizon. We stop dreaming of what’s next, leaving a big fat hole in our future. And this leaves the universe to provide us with more of the same…nothing new.
When you’ve been accustomed to having a dream and always working and visualizing toward what’s next, this can be a disheartening, even scary place to be. But it’s not always a bad thing.
After periods of significant change in our lives – the nest emptying, a divorce, career changes, a big move, or a health crisis – this dream-free period may be just what’s needed to catch our breath.
I’ve been in such a place for the last couple of years. The previous several years were times of massive change – divorce, moving, career change, kids off to college then graduating college, just about everything changed rapidly in a relatively short amount of time. Dreaming big was out of the question; my dreams consisted of simply getting through the day with my heart and mind intact.
I did get through those days, and came out the other side stronger, intact, happier than I’d been in quite a long time. It was lovely. So lovely, in fact, that for the last three years or so, there have been no new dreams pressing in on me. I’ve been simply living in the moment, grateful for what I have and how my life is now. Emotionally fat and happy, you might say, even with the challenges of a parent’s health crisis, a house that wouldn’t sell, and the usual run of daily life.
I’ve been dreaming of the big fat zero…don’t pinch me, because things are really good here. And the universe has responded in kind by pretty much keeping the status quo.
I’ve enjoyed my time here with John in this dream-free zone, although we’ve certainly spent a lot of time and energy thinking about and working toward our future. These days, though, I’m again feeling that small yet insistent tickle, telling me it’s time to amp up the dreaming again.
I’m ready for it.
I’m filling my dream void with delicious new thoughts and feelings on how life will be a year from now. I’m excited about it, looking forward to all the good times we’ll have making it happen. Unlike other times when I’ve been desperately searching for change, this time I’m letting it flow. There is no “have to” this around, no fear about what happens if the dreams don’t manifest. Just an overwhelming realizing that I am building the life I desire with every thought and inspired action.