CHAPTER 1
Dare to Dream
WE LEARN as we grow that our dreams are fragile. They can break into little fragments and blow away in the wind if we don’t protect them. Dreams are a precious gift. We need to nurture, grow, and realize them. Making our dreams come true allows us to look back at our life journey with joy, and with little regret.
Consciously nurturing our dreams is one of the most powerful things that we can do for ourselves. We need to think of them as living things that we encourage to grow and thrive. Feed and water your dreams with positive thoughts on a daily basis and they will flourish. Honor and respect your dreams regardless of the thoughts and opinions of others. Let inspiration and optimism be the fertilizer for your future.
How many of us were asked when we were young what it was we wanted to be when we grew up, while someone waited and really wanted to hear our answers? Maybe you said you wanted to be a movie star or famous singer or fantastic artist. And then that person really listened and helped you explore what it is you really wanted to do? For those of you who had that support, how very fortunate you were.
Too often, when many of us expressed our dreams, someone nicely laughed or perhaps even suggested there was no way we would be able to make our dream come true. Or become the person we dreamed of becoming. This shrugging aside of our dreams by people we counted on to support us I am sure was not out of meanness. Many of our parents were young themselves when we were growing up. They were still learning to be adults, taking care of themselves and us, and it wasn’t easy for them.
And many of our parents may have felt limited themselves. Perhaps they grew up with parents who also felt limited. They may have shrugged our dreams off and pushed us in another direction in an effort to try to help us. Many had a hard life and wanted to ensure we had an education and a stable position so that we could always support ourselves and not have to struggle as hard as they did. Parents try to guide their children to a future they feel is stable and safe. Big dreams require taking risks and often a more difficult path.
At a very young age we all knew from moment to moment what we wanted and we believed that we could have it. We went after it without any hesitation or thought about risks or how we looked. We may even have gotten in trouble for going after it but still worked hard to get it. Perhaps it was something shiny across the room or a tasty cookie. We reached for it, crawled for it, ran for it. And even if we were told we couldn’t have it, we still tried to get it. It’s only as we “grow up” that we lose this intense commitment to get out of
