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To dream. a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep. an involuntary vision occurring to a person when awake. a vision voluntarily indulged in while awake; daydream; reverie. (Dictionary.com)
Dreams that become a reality, take time, patience, nurture, rest and support. As you see this beautiful Angel Oak Tree did not become this large and beautiful overnight, it took hundreds of years to grow deep roots and thick wide branches. In order for this tree to survive, there are ropes to help support the weight to display her beauty. Similar to our dreams, our dreams need support. When we see others living out their dreams and envy takes root into our minds, we need to weed the insecure thoughts out and replace them with the awareness that it probably took some blood, sweat and tears for their dreams to come alive. There is always a backstory to a dream.
I had two children in diapers when I graduated from a 200hr yoga school and started to play yoga with them and wrote imaginary yoga journeys to experience movement through story, just for fun. Then I met a mom who was an artist at a playground who asked me what I did, I shared that I wrote kid yoga stories for my children. She said, “I am an artist, let me see your stories.” I chuckled and said, “well, it is just for fun.” But something in me whispered, send her a story and so she began painting the most whimsical beautiful pictures. Still not a clue where this playful dream would go until I met another mom at the school playground while our children would swing on swings and climb trees and this is where I discovered that this mom was a writer and offered to edit my story. My dream had taken on a new shape, my artist and writer friends were transforming this dream into something more than I could have asked, dreamed or imagined. We linked arms and with lots of labor, sleepless nights, literally it was like a having a baby when we got the opportunity to what was hoped to be a hardcover book, to be the first kid yoga app ever on Apple’s revolutionary iPad in 2010! What was just for our children to share became a story for other children to experience too, this dream started to unfold into a reality for many children across the world. The past five years have been the most eye opening, challenging and joyful years of my life as I live out my dream as a writer, yoga teacher, business partner, mother and friend. The one thing that matters the most is to embrace the support and to trust others as they come along side. The dreams that are worth living for are the ones that include others, they are the kind of dreams that can exist without you, where they thrive and live on if you are the one carrying them out or not.
Do you have a vision or dream that you are hoping to come true? If so, be patient and start here...
Write down all your hopes and dreams, use words and or images.
Share your dreams with your friends and family, when you speak your dreams it is like the sun coming down on the Angel Oak, giving light and energy to your dreams. You never know who hears your dreams might share the same one and want to bring it to life alongside you.
Do something everyday that nourishes your dream every phone call, every meeting, every email, every social media output is a step in living out the dream. The little things keep the dream alive.
Failures are just as important as successes, failures are our best teachers, they keep us humble, they keep us human, they keep us going.
Say I am sorry, I am learning, I need help often!
When you feel discouraged and you want to quit, reflect on all that you are doing right to keep this dream alive and recognize that struggles bring strength.
Be patient and know that just like this beautiful Angel Oak, it takes time to grow and expand.
Dreams are most successful when you can close your eyes at night and smile that you are actually living out your dream.
Dream on,
Rachel
