My oldest daughter was very premature. Because of how early she was, she was at risk of developing a condition called Retinopathy of Prematurity, in which the blood vessels of the retina are not fully developed and have a tendency to grow in a circle instead of expanding out to cover the full retina.
If this doesn’t stop, if the blood vessels continue to go around and around in a circle, then the retina can detach and the child will be blind.
I’ve always found this condition to be a powerful metaphor for what happens to so many of us as we get caught up in the daily machinations of our working lives.
We go around and around in that circular groove we’ve made for ourselves and become more and more detached from our dreams.
Put Yourself On the Line
The very act of identifying your dreams can be a challenge, particularly if you’re living the kind of existence I discussed in my last post, Are You Comfortably Miserable?
We get so overwhelmed by what we’re doing that we lose sight of why we’re doing it. We forget our original intention.
When we end up here — and everyone ends up here sometimes — we need something or someone to wake us up and help us move in a more outward direction. To help us see new and bigger possibilities.
You can break out of this cycle by putting yourself in a situation that is outside of your comfort zone. Do something that challenges you or hire a coach to help you see things with fresh perspective. You have to look up periodically from the day-to-day and reconnect with your dreams.
Two Little Words That Make a Huge Difference
I’ve talked a lot recently about the power of setting intentions. I can’t stress enough how big of a difference this practice can make for you – especially in staying connected with your dreams.
In my recent post, Clearing The Air With Intentions, I talked about how setting intentions before a sales call can be particularly beneficial.
The intention I mentioned in that post was to be truly present with the client. To make them feel empowered or connected with what is possible for them. That’s a great intention, but it’s missing something.
It’s missing the words “so that.”
Maybe one of your dreams is to be on stage in front of a thousand people sharing your message. The next time you sit down to write a blog post, you might set an intention that the writing be as authentic as possible.
But go a step further. You want the writing to really speak to readers so that it continues to ripple out and leads to a new platform for speaking to thousands more people.
Say It Out Loud
There’s a real power in stating your dreams out loud. The act helps solidify your energy and you never know who might hear you and be helped by what you’ve said.
I realized recently that one of my dreams is to work with the United Nations so that I can help people all over the world experience bigger possibilities for themselves and their lives. This is the first time I’m putting that dream in writing!
Now that I’ve shared with you, I invite you to be bold and share one of your dreams in the comment section below.
Comments 2
I dream of working with artist across mediums and platforms so that I can help them create the order and organization they need to share their creation gifts.
I dream of teaching TAT to groups of veterans, to other therapists and fellow professionals, and to any others who want to deepen their experience of it, so that many more people can heal old hurts and grow healthier.