Do you have a dream—not a dream during sleep, but a burning aspiration, or a vision? If you do, have you placed it on a shelf, or forgotten about it? I encourage you to take your dream off the shelf, brush the dust from it and ask yourself if the time is right to pursue your dream. Perhaps part of the awakening is to decide whether it’s time to pursue an old dream. Dreams can linger in the recesses of our minds, lead to a measure of unrest or discontent, and profoundly affect our health. There are many examples of people who finally pursued their dreams, and once their dreams were realized they miraculously noticed improvements in physical conditions such as chronic fatigue, arthritis pain, irritable bowel syndrome, and others. When we engage in thoughts about our dream, playing with the “whats,” “hows,” “whens” and “whos,” we can actively make choices.
Test whether your dream is realistic. If you are a 100-pound female, your dream of being a linebacker for the National Football League is not realistic. Perhaps the costs to family, relationships, finances, and health are too great to pay. Perhaps you are not yet surrounded by the support team you need to realize your dream if you were to embark upon it. If your dream cannot be pursued now, in this place and time, then you might choose to return it to the shelf, or you might choose to find closure because your dream truly is unrealistic.
However, do not give up easily! If you test your dream and find the journey will be arduous or come at great cost, it might not mean you should set it aside. Consider whether you can take the first step toward your dream with minimal risk. For instance, if your dream is to obtain your college degree, take the entrance exam or take the first course and see if it works out as you had hoped. Move through the doors of your journey until one closes. If you find that many doors are closing, perhaps the dream can be re-sized or re-shaped to meet the desire of the original dream but in another form. For some it is not the realization of the dream itself, but the thinking about it that gives the greater joy—if this is true for you, dream big!
As your personal journey unfolds, I encourage you not to dismiss your dreams. Know that your dreams are possible and you are worthy of living them. As you journey toward your “real self,” you may realize that the dreams you thought were not possible, truly are. If your unfulfilled dream is affecting your health, or if you need encouragement, contact me or one of my trusted practitioners. Many of us are able to share from personal experience what it has been like to pursue, and realize, a longstanding dream and assist you in clearing emotional blocks that are preventing you from realizing your dream.
© Trinity Integrative Family Medicine, Inc., glkocourek, Nov-2011; latest revision 09-May-2021