When Dreams Become Real – Part II

For me, I always had a feeling deep within my spirit that I was meant to do something… a special something of some sort of which I knew nothing of the details. I just had a feeling within myself that it was important and that it would somehow help others. As I grew older I began to pass off this feeling as just the dreams and fantasies of youth of the sort that makes one very important within their own minds but clearly detached from the real world.

Did you ever have or do you still have a feeling that there is something yet undone that you were meant to do?

And then my life began to unfold. I worked with the Press Liaison Office of the United States Senate, became a successful teacher, a state senator who never lost an election, and then a President of a community Chamber of Commerce. All were great experiences but throughout each of them I still had this nagging sense that I was supposed to do something and that whatever it was… what I was currently doing was not it! It was always present, and the older I became the more acutely uncomfortable the feeling became. What was a nagging sense for so many years quickly became a constant almost depressing sense of panic each moment of my existence. There was something I was supposed do and time was running out! Then out of disaster came the opportunity to understand and discover a dream that had been deep within me and with that, a chance to make that dream a reality.

I will talk of the dream a bit later, as I suspect there is some curiosity for some as to the nature of the disaster. Let me just say that if bad things come in “threes” I hit the jackpot. I was asked to resign from my job due to a difference in visions, a son whose choices had put his life in danger, and a failed relationship. Not a good combination to be sure, yet out of this low point arose the chance to create the future that had always eluded me… the one I was supposed to do. I was given an opportunity to reflect and to do some heavy personal lifting that admittedly was not much fun to do. Yet in the end, it was worth it as I found my dream and found a determination to make it a reality.

From my experiences, I have found that to find ones dream it is important to know the following things:

 Who you are at your very core?
 What are your true core values and how do you actually define them in a way that resonates within you?
 What times or moments in your life did you feel time standing still because you were so engaged, that you were energized by each moment, and that you felt joy and fulfillment?
 At what moments in your life did you feel absolutely aligned with the universe and what created that sense within you?
 What could you do to create and experience those feelings of joy, passion, energy, meaning, and fulfillment every day of your life?

When I went through this process I discovered that there were two things that stood out when I felt most alive and content… teaching and working to create authentic leaders for tomorrow. It was only a matter of time before I became aware of what I had always wanted to do. I needed to take my teaching talents, combine them with my knowledge and experience with creating authentic leaders, and take it out into the world to whoever was willing to learn. It was also at that moment that I knew I had a choice. I could either play it safe or I could take the steps to make my dream a reality… steps that would mean there would be a point of no turning back and an acute awareness of there being no guarantee of success. I had a choice.

There come those moments in time where, if we are aware, we realize that we are at a crossroads. One way will be the safe, tried and logical way of living and the other a more dangerous, uncertain path where your heart and spirit truly want to go. The good news is that we are always at that crossroad and we can still choose to follow the path that will lead to our dream. The choice is, as it has always been, with us.

For me it was a simple choice to make. It was not an easy choice, just a simple one. I decided to follow my dream. So amid the worst economic environment the world has experienced, and with far too few assets to begin such a venture, I began taking my initial steps down the path where dreams are made; sometimes called “The Path of No Guarantees”.

In Part III we will delve into what going down the path of one’s dream looks like. We will also look at the tools individuals will need in order to keep from merely reacting and recreating the past from the multiple events and circumstances that will arise, to being able to consciously respond thus creating new possibilities for both the present and the future.

I look forward to having you drop by for Part III. In the meantime, how would you answer the questions posed above? Do you know or have a new sense of what your dream and/or purpose is? Do you think these are important enough questions for you to spend some time on or are you too busy to take time for what may be one of the most important questions in your life? What is your dream? Just curious…