MAKE YOUR DREAMS HAPPEN - TODAY

PAUSE A MOMENT

MAKE YOUR DREAMS HAPPEN - TODAY

Good morning once again, and welcome to Pause a Moment. Tonight we're going to look at ways you can make your dreams happen. Or maybe that should read – ways of getting out of your own way of stopping your dreams from happening.... How is dreaming for you? Do they come easily, or is imagining more difficult? Maybe in a few minutes from now it will become a little easier. Are you willing to look under this particular rock? Don't worry, I've been here before – might be exciting, but nothing lethal, I promise you...

[Dream – Janet Seidel]

What is Your Dream?

Nothing begins without a dream, a vision, a flash of inspiration. And it happens in less than the blink of an eye. Mozart got his symphonies in a flash. Einstein got his Theory of Relativity in the blink of a moment. It took them a while to write them down and test them out so that others could follow the path, but the inspiration was instantaneous.

Even God had a dream. One day she wondered “What if...?”, and you showed up. But not before everything else was first put into place for you. Which begs the question – Which came first – you or your parents/circumstances? Well, conventional non-thinking assumes that your parents came first (cause), and you came later (effect). You are the effect of your parents – right? Are you so sure? Isn't it just possible that you are an idea whose time has come (Cause), and your antecedents (effects) had to be put into place so that You could happen? Could it not be that you have always been, and remain Cause in the matter?, and everything else was/is the Effect? If you are Cause, then that kinda licks all the sugar off your victim stories, doesn't it?

Five Common Roadblocks to Your Dreams. I looked at mine, and here's what I got. See if you can add some more of your own......

1. An absence of Willingness. If I'm not willing, it won't happen, except by pure accident. The bottom line is that nothing will ever happen, can ever happen, without you are first willing for it to happen.
2. The presence of Saboteurs and Witholds. We all have in our internal attics long-forgotten boxes of contrary self-beliefs and behaviours that surreptitiously sabotage and repel your desires coming to you.
3. Estrangement from Possibility through Resentments, Anxieties, Losses, Griefs and Disappointments. These gremlins are always hungry, eating away at your innocence and optimism, and scaring off opportunities.
4. Fear. Fear of being labelled a Failure. Fear of, or resistance to Success. All of us want to be the best we can be. But sometimes, all too often in fact, we shy away from a bogeyman called Risk and become mired in mediocrity. When our choices seem overwhelming—we give ourselves Analysis Paralysis: we rationalise our way OUT of what we want.
5. Perceived payoffs for Failure. Who gets to be right if your life starts working – someone you want to make wrong? Also -- if we fail, what strokes of sympathy do we get, and from whom? Who do we keep hooked when we don't ever quite succeed???

   Before your proceed any further, spend some time in turn with each of the above Spoilers. It could save you a lot of frustration and heartache further down the track.

[Any Dream Will Do – Richard Clayderman & James Last]

Prepare Your Dream

If you are unsure of what your dream might be—either because you are afraid to dream or because you somehow lost your dream along the way—then start preparing yourself to receive your dream by doing five things to put yourself in the best possible position.

1.Physical preparation: Get your body into optimal shape to pursue your dream. If you want to be a dancer you'd better work on your calves and thighs and avoirdupois.

2.Mental Preparation: Read about and meet people you admire and who inspire you. Gather information, stories and experiences that relate to what you're wading into. Become an authority on your suject.

3.Visual Preparation: Put up pictures of people, quotes and things that inspire you.

4.Experiential Preparation: Engage in activities in areas related to your interests. Think outside the box. Look around you at how things work already. Experiment. Invent. Try synthesising things you normally wouldn't find together. And spend some time with your eyes closed. Sometimes you have to close your eyes in order to see clearly.

5.Hero Preparation: Read and study people who've had their own experiences in areas of your greatest interest. You don't have to re-invent the wheel – there are some pretty good ones around that you might be able to adapt to your purposes.
Once you do these five preparations, focus on discovering your dream. As you do, keep this in mind: 'A dream is what you desire if anything and everything is possible.' What did you dream about when you were a child. To most children, anything is possible. What was your dream before you started to tuck childish things away in the back of your wardrobe?

Own Your Dream

Now follow your dreams. I am not saying it’s going to be easy, but I am saying that, provided the dreams are yours and not ambitions planted in your patch by someone else, it’s going to be worth every centimetre of the journey. 

Our happiness in many ways ties directly to an “inner voice” that 24/7 scans your life with an inherent, unspoken question…“Are you moving toward your dream?” If you are, then contentment reigns, even during the tough times. If, however, you're off-course, despair may fester within your subconscious. You probably will not even realize why your life lacks joy, and either go searching for it somewhere else, or give up – “It's too late for me.” Well, if you say so, it will be so, but it need not be so. As Billy Joel wrote – You either go for what YOU want with heart and soul engaged, or you just... get... old....

[River of Dreams – Billy Joel]

How Will You Achieve It?

Work. Vince Lombardi cryptically noted - “The only place that success comes before work is in the Dictionary." Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price.

Success and satisfaction is measured, in my book, not only by what you accomplish, but also by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the tussle with the odds. At the end of my days here, I hope I'm asked “What have you enjoyed accomplishing? What did you learn about being human?”

Build Your Dream – one step at a time.

Do you long to accomplish something great and noble? Helen Keller got it when she realised “It is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they are great and noble”. Show me someone who cannot be bothered with the small stuff; I'll show you someone who cannot be trusted with the Big Picture. One of the things that gobsmacks me about God is the incredible attention she pays to detail -- the world looks just as awesome under a microscope as the Universe does around the Hubble space telescope.

All successful people are faithful in the small things. There is power and greatness in taking small steps.

So many people stand rooted to the spot simply because they are not willing to take the small step placed before them. If you have a dream to go into any particular area, you should leap at every opportunity—no matter how small—to move in the direction of your dream. For example: I dreamed of turning professional as an actor. Had I sat at home waiting for an invitation from John Sumner of the Melbourne Theatre Company, what do you think my chances might have been? I got jobs as an extra on TV dramas and watched how things were done. I got a paid job touring schools with a Theatre-In-Education company. I auditioned for NIDA and launched myself bodily for free into every opportunity on offer. You need to find an opportunity to do what you want to do somewhere, anywhere. Volunteer. Volunteering's a good life-habit to get into anyway.
Don't be afraid to take small steps. There's something powerful about getting up momentum...no matter how small. Many times the impossible is simply something that nobody else has tried and tested – yet.
I can remember a time in my life when I was immobilized with fear and fury, consumed and paralysed by what I was supposed to do. It seemed so huge a task; I was unable to bring myself to face it. A voice came to me and spoke two words that broke that paralysis in my life. There was nothing mystical in the voice – it actually sounded very like my father in a fit of exasperation with his eldest son – it said, "Do something!" I'll never forget that day...taking some small, seemingly insignificant steps changed my life. Static inertia was overcome by one simple, consciously deliberate movement. The juices began to flow once again. Momentum began to return to my life.
If you are at a point of paralysis in your life because of what you feel you're supposed to do, the words today are, "Do something!" Don't fuss about the long-term goal right now; just take the steps that take you past this point of paralysis. Soon you'll get to a point of no return. As you climb higher, you'll be able to see much farther. Remember the Chinese proverb – “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

As you begin, don't give in to fear. Eric Hoffer said, "Fear of becoming a 'has-been' keeps some people from becoming anything." Every great idea is impossible from where you are starting today. But little goals add up, and they add up rapidly. Most people don't succeed because they are too afraid to even try. As incredible as it sounds, they decide in advance they're going to fail. And they do.
Many times the final goal seems so unreachable we don't even make an effort. But once you've made your decision and have started, it's suddenly like you're halfway there. Start—no matter what your circumstances. Take that first step!
It's simple. Start from where you are, and grow wherever you're planted.

Secure Your Dream

Steven Conrad, in his screenplay for the inspiring film “The Pursuit of Happyness” wrote “Don't ever let somebody tell you you can't do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you gotta protect it. If people can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you YOU can't do it. Don't listen. If you want for something, go for it. Period.”

Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't listen to advice of close family, friends and mentors. But be wary of following any advice when it doesn't peacefully resonate in your heart and body. Never mind whether your mind agrees or not; listen to your heart and be aware of body sensations. If your heart & body tense up anywhere, stick it in your “Maybe” tray. That doesn't mean it's bad advice; it just signals it may not be a good fit for you just now. You will know if something is resonating with you when feelings like peace, joy, patience, lightness, kindness and excitement start to bubble up from within you, or you feel a weight lifted off your shoulders.

When you don't know what action to take, do nothing. Instead. build energy, clean things up, organise things, seek out more information. If something feels right, proceed. If it feels wrong, don't go. If it feels neutral, move very slowly and cautiously. Keep your dream in mind, and stay in charge.

Don't leave your dream to chance. Make it a Choice. A deliberate, day-by-day choosing.

[As the Days Go By – Daryl Braithwaite]