Dreams

What are your dreams?

What a fantastic question.

When was the last time you thought about your dreams? I have been thinking about this a lot lately. There have been times in my life when I've set goals for myself and taken the time to write those goals down, but not lately. I thought it was time to reevaluate.

I have to admit, I'm always sheepish about putting things like this down on paper. What if I don't reach the goal? What if I aspire to do something and I don't? I put a lot of pressure on myself in this way. In deciding to do this, I had more nagging fears ... what if my dreams aren't lofty enough, what if they're dumb, what if someone else tells me they're dumb? I had to come to realize that these fears were holding me back. How can my dreams be stupid? How can they be too simple? If they're something I want to do, then they're important to me. What is the harm in writing them down? If I don't take the time to realize my own dreams, then I am certainly not going to have a plan in making those dreams come true.

At first I questioned what my dreams really are these days. I feel like I'm living out my dreams every day. I have a wonderful husband, a great family, and I live in a city I've always dreamed about. But given a few thought starters, the ideas started to flow. There are a ton of things I've dreamed about, lots of things I've been storing in the back of my mind, I just hadn't articulated them or written them down.

The thought starters I used were:
Physical (examples: look and feel healthy, run a mini marathon)
Material (examples: buy a professional camera, own a vintage convertible)
Intellectual (examples: learn French, read more)
Spiritual (examples: find a church I love, take a mission trip outside the US)
Emotional (examples: create traditions, complete some unfinished artwork)
Psychological (examples: be present at all times, overcome my fears)
Professional (examples: own a business, become a full-time artist)
Creative (examples: own my own studio, take a photography class)
Adventure (examples: take a walkabout in Australia, go on an African safari)
Character (examples: be a better listener, be supportive and encouraging of others)

I wanted to share these thoughts with you that you may be energized by your own dreams. It is invigorating to get to know your dreams and create a plan to achieve them!

Dream on.