Following your dreams: The work of transformation
This past summer, my partner and I packed up our family and moved across the country to open a new chapter of our lives and follow our dreams. It was a big move on many levels and after six months of preparing, traveling, unpacking and landing in our new life, we were ready to embrace the rewards of our hard work.
Except, it wasn’t that easy…I figured that once you make the big leap to commit to the dream, everything would work out, right? Well, I’m realizing that once you are on the path of the dream, the work has only begun.
As I’ve been bumbling along the ups and downs of the daily work, here are three components I’m learning to embrace (and not fight!) as a part of living the dream:
Dream – Work:
It’s easy to build a dream as a type of fantasy, maybe you dream of staying in bed all day or eating chocolate without limits (maybe that is that just me?). The question is – are these dreams about escapism or will they really bring you a sense of satisfaction or accomplishment?
I believe a true dream is connected to your drive, the part of us that seeks to grow and improve and follow our personal destiny. Dreams like climbing a mountain, publishing a book or achieving inner peace represent a different kind of drive.
The drive to work, to know our potential, to meet our limits and keep going.
It sounds heroic, doesn’t it? Perhaps it will seem so at the top of the mountain, but what I’m learning is that there is a lot of quiet, focused tedium to showing up every day for the dream. The sooner I embrace the work of it, the more meaningful the daily trudge becomes.
Dream – Discomfort:
When you see a beautiful slogan painted on a canvas or pillow that says: Follow your dreams, it can make it seem airy and elegant. The truth is often less cozy. I’m learning that discomfort is often at the heart of the journey – because it is a journey!
Inner growth comes when we travel through the less trodden parts of ourselves, sometimes those parts are messy, wounded and have been deeply ignored. Following our dreams invites us to push on our potential, which can bring up self doubt and fear.
These elements are inevitable, rather than spending our energy fighting them, it can be helpful to identify the discomfort and allow it to exist. Your passion is driving the dream, the more you invest your focus and faith in that drive, the more it will become strong in the face of any inner resistance.
“Fear can have a voice, but it doesn’t get a vote.” Elizabeth Gilbert.
Dream – Transformation:
The Training in Power Academy slogan used to be: Come if you are ready to change. We noticed that the one common experience our students had via our course work was they would have meaningful change in their lives.
The slogan was a call to invite those who were ready to change, because if you aren’t, you may not want to see it through – the work and the discomfort that will bring you to your transformation.
The longer I pursue my dreams, the more I realize that the dream is a beacon to my own growth, not just the goal on the other side. Yes it’s about getting to the top of the mountain, but perhaps it’s more about who you become on the climb to the summit.
I believe our inner drive, in its purest form, is the call of our spirit to not only express our true potential, but to gain invaluable inner healing and self knowledge.
And so from my desk of living my dream, I celebrate the work, discomfort and transformation as part of the path. When I feel these feelings, I know I’m on the right track! How does the dream look for you?