Dreams are the life within

Subliminal places,

Where mind wonders in,

With hope to find peace.

Dreams are by far my favorite. Dreams are what life is made of. I’m not talking of the dreams that happen when we sleep, but of the ones that we create in our awaken state: ideas, goals… just things we want to achieve. All of us at some point of our life had those kinds of dreams. As little children we pictured ourselves as firemen, doctors, scientists, nurses, models, movie or music stars… the list is very long. As we get older we learn that it takes more than just a dream to actually achieve something. It’s good to listen to our intuition; It is always a good guide.

Dreams may come to us first as an idea. Wouldn’t that be great to… fly an airplane…? We may like it and then the idea may become our dream. The ideas always come to us if we pay attention. Some slowly linger in, like they just want to say: "Pardon me; I think you have skills and knowledge to do xyz. Would you be willing to provide the desire to do xyz?..." We may or may not pick on that kind of subtle message.

Some other ideas feel like a hit on the head and they just won’t leave us alone. Those are the best!! They always come at the right time, and we usually know when that happens, because we immediately go into action. The feeling of doing the right thing at the right time is so strong that it almost feels like an obsession. There is nothing and nobody that can stop us. We are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve our dream.

In either case it’s up to us to act though and the desire is the crucial factor. If we don’t have the desire… nothing will happen. How to find the desire?... that’s a whole different story… I’ll save it for another occasion.

How to find dreams?

It’s easy. Most every one of us has a life long dream that is still waiting for our action. There is never too late to take action. We all have heard about people in their 90’s finishing schools, colleges, writing books, climbing mountains, cliff diving… well, maybe not cliff diving at 90, but many people follow their dreams regardless of their age. We don’t have to wait that long.

Problems, yes, problems are another great resource for ideas. We don’t like problems, but many times they show up (for a reason) just to force us to find new ideas and take us to a different space in life. Most every one of us has some kind of problem, so there should be no shortage of potential ideas. It’s easy to turn them into solutions and new dreams. If we approach the problem with the mind set on finding the solution – the whole new arena opens up.

Without being too analytical I think there are two kinds of dreams:

1. The ones we create in our minds, and

2. The ones that are stimulated by life; they can start as challenges, or they can come as an idea that presents itself as the solution to a problem. I like to see that as universe giving us a hint or an opportunity to learn. Many times the dream that we created long ago will connect with the action that we are taking today to resolve a completely unrelated challenge. It is fascinating how many times things and events just work out perfectly, even though the path seemed to be rough at first.

When we talk about dreams they may feel like something remote and hard to reach. I don’t think they are. We just need to open our mind to the opportunity they bring.

One may ask what to do if they don’t work out? Good question. Well, we need to accept the fact that not all attempts to achieve our dreams will always work out, and that’s ok. Along the journey we learn – there is always a lesson and the time spent on it is never wasted, even if it costs money and even if it was just to learn what doesn’t work. We will always use that experience and knowledge later in life directly or indirectly, so… no sweat. Scientists, inventors and researchers know the best what it means to not succeed. They still keep trying though until they do.

Whatever we think of dreams (ideas, goals), making them real is the most fun. Yes, as the wise man said: "it is the journey that brings us happiness". I’d like to also add that our purpose is to BE.

© Alexandra Garland 2009