Speak your Dream into Existence
For a long time, I've wanted to write a book. And yet, if you were to ask me what my "dream life" would look like, that's the one element I usually leave out. I don't talk about it, I don't dwell on it, and it's the only dream I've ever had that has been easy to put on the back burner. Maybe that means it's not a priority right now, in comparison to the other pressing needs in my life. I'm working hard to grow my business, build my career, and learn what it means to be a good wife. However, I think there's a better reason I don't include it - I don't really want to deal with it. I know that, if I start talking about it, I have good people in my life to hold me accountable. I would have to give it the time of day. I'd have to work on it, and I couldn't live afraid of it. In order for a dream to become a dream and not just a wish, you have to speak it into existence. Once it's there, something in your heart catches fire, and you can't take it back.
Most of us choose to sit on our dreams, even after we've succeeded in achieving other ones. I believe that the ones we sit on are often the ones that are the most valuable. You see, as silly as it sounds, starting a business wasn't scary for me. It was difficult and still is, but it didn't make me second guess myself. Putting my heart on paper for the world to see, that's a different story. That requires vulnerability and bravery in another department, one I'm not sure I want to touch.
One of my favorite authors, Brené Brown said, “Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it.” To me, writing a book means literally and metaphorically owning my story. It's something to which I've held on tightly since I was 15 years old. So today, I'm letting it go. There it is, out for the world to see. I can't promise an immediate delivery, and I'm not sure what speaking it into existence truly means. But, I want it to be real, so this is where I start.
What dream are you sitting on, holding with slippery fingers, and unable to let go of? Let me challenge you to speak it out to someone today. It doesn't have to be on the internet or written in the sky for your entire neighborhood to see, but it's not real until you decide to make it real. Open yourself up to the possibility of trying (and failing), because you're not doing yourself or anyone else a good deed by hiding your gift.