Daring To Dream After Losing a Decade

This keeps cropping up!  People I know or have coached keep mentioning this theme:  they’ve lost so much time it’s like they’ve lost a decade.

Maybe you have it, too?

You’ve lost years to:

• a soul-sucking day job,
• a relationship you wish you’d left sooner, or, maybe
• an inexplicable sadness that can’t be medicated or meditated away

How do you dream again when your will to dare to has been stifled?

Your ability to dream is directly linked to knowing what brings you joy.  

Vexingly, perhaps you’ve lost track of what sparks your own joy.

It’s not your fault.  This happens often in our culture.  

We give away our power – authority over ourselves, our choices, our life direction – to an institution, a person, or even to an Inner Critic voice in our heads.

We are taught

• To pass the reins of our career development to corporate HR;
• To put our life desires on hold until the kids are grown;
• To swallow our weirdness so we don’t call too much attention to ourselves.

Each maneuver seems small but over time it’s like Death By A Thousand Cuts.  

We start to forget who we are, what brings us joy, and what stirs us to come alive.  

The following idea is inspired by a chat I had last year with the Dandapani, a Hindu Priest-turned-International-Speaker.  

Find your way back to dreaming by re-discovering yourSELF.

Treat yourself like a separate person you are getting to know all over again.  Journal it out for greater effect.

Find out about “You”:

• What did “you” think of that movie?
• If “you” could pick anything off the menu, what would it be?
• What do “you” think of US politics at the moment?
• Where would “you” go in the world if money, time, childcare, and jobs weren’t an issue?

And then ask the deeper questions:

• What do you wish there was more of in the world?
• What makes you feel small?
• What’s your secret longing?
• What do you wish you could do with your life?

You’re closing in on the place where dreams are born when tears start to glimmer in your eyes.  Don’t stop asking questions until you get there.

What surprises you to learn about “you”?  What kind of dream does it spark for you and what will you do about it?  

Let us know in the comments below.

Big love,
Jen