“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” - J.K. Rowling
This is actually a post I wrote last November and when I found it I felt like I was reading my thoughts from last night, so here it is for you to read...
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I’m sick of waiting for my dreams to happen TO me. I’ve decided to grab life by the balls and take control of the things I can control.
I’ve always dreamed of my life in a certain way, but my life isn’t going to get like that just by thinking about it. I want kids and a fulfilling life and a job that will let me live my life the way I want to- I want to be able to be part of my kids’ lives every step of the way. I’m not entirely sure how I thought this was going to miraculously materialize, but it’s not, so I decided to change the things I could.
Step one on the path to dream life: money. I need this miraculous job I keep imagining. I’m sick of only making enough money to get by, and I’m sick of feeling like I’m using one iota of what I’m good at, capable of, and enjoy doing. I’m sick of mostly living the life I want...MOSTLY!? Please. I’m not a mostly kind of person, so why the F am I acting like it?! MONEY itself was never “important” to me... Until I finally realized that I will never have my dream life without laying the groundwork first. The reason I’ve been so stuck is because I was trying to wish a castle into existence without taking the time to build the foundation first.
Without realizing it, I dug a very deep hole for myself by thinking that having a family was my #1 goal. I never dreamed about any of the other specifics of my life, and so I encased myself in a pretty little box that was suffocating the very dreams I wanted to make my reality. It is so, SO important to think about the SPECIFICS of what you want, WHY you want it, how you want to FEEL when you get there (and along the way), and the steps you’re going to take to get yourself there.
So, I got real with myself about what kind of job I wanted, how much money I wanted to make, how I wanted to make it, and I got myself here. This blog is the first step towards figuring it out.
I’ve always wanted to help people, and the older I get, the more sick I am of watching fabulous people wander the earth not living up to their true fabulosity. So, I’m here to change that. I’ve been told my whole life that I’m very nurturing and will be a good mother someday, but until that day, I’m here to nurture you. And to give you some tough love in the form of tough questions.
My whole adult life, I’ve been a figure skating coach. I’m great at what I do, but the moments I love most aren’t really related to skating at all. The moments I love most are the moments when I get to watch my students grow. They’ve decided to think about things in a different way- I’ve helped adult students step up and start looking for a new job because their current one is the pits; I’ve helped teenagers feel secure in their choice not to follow the “cool” kids and to keep rocking it as their weird-ass selves; I’ve helped little ones realize they’re capable of so, so much more than they ever thought possible, if they just pick themselves up and try again. And now I’m here to do that for you. So, what are YOUR dreams? And how are you stopping yourself from getting to them? What’s one step you can take today to start the ball rolling towards the life you’ve always imagined for yourself? Write down what you want. Then write down the smallest, first step you can think of that will start you down that path. It’s like the writing exercise in school where you had to explain in excruciating detail how to make a PB&J or tie your shoes. It had to be so foolproof that ANYONE picking it up could follow your directions and complete the task. So, make your directions foolproof for yourself. Be gentle with yourself- sometimes we’re not as smart as we think we are. What’s one small thing that you can ACTUALLY complete today? “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind...” Blast off into your wildest dreams by taking that one small step. NOW. Before you forget to live...