Jul 02 2008
I Have a Dream
On Monday, I posted about feeling like I’m not living the life I’m supposed to lead. I got quite a few emails from readers who feel the same way. It’s a frustrating feeling, isn’t it? It’s this nagging sensation that something’s not right, that you’re somehow being robbed of experiences you should be having and satisfaction you should be feeling. I’ve been thinking about that feeling and what I can do to change it pretty much constantly since I wrote that post.
It seems that many of you are frustrated because you not only feel like you’re not living the life you’re supposed to lead, but you also don’t have a clue as to what that life might be. I share your frustration. I have some ideas about what the life I’m supposed to lead might include–teaching, writing, helping people, broadcasting my “you can do it!” message–but I don’t know exactly what that life looks like. It’s like I can see the fuzzy outline of it, but I can’t make out any of the details. Argh! How am I supposed to make it happen if I can’t see what “it” is??
This whole inner dialogue made me realize that it’s really important to have a dream. Daydreaming might not strike you as a personal/career development exercise, but it is. It helps us identify what’s important to us, what’s missing from our lives, what we’d like to change, who we’d like to be, what we’d like to do, etc. Daydreaming will help you build a detailed picture of the life you’re supposed to lead which will, in turn, help you identify actions you can take to get there.
Take a few minutes some time today and let yourself daydream about your perfect life. What are you doing? Where do you live? Who are you with (personally and professionally)? Where do you work? (For example, in my personal daydream, I see my husband and I owning a REAL HOUSE–not a condo–with a yard. I work from home on this website and other writing projects, including a book. You get the idea.) Let your imagination run wild, and see where it takes you.
What is your dream? Are there any actions you can take to support it?
I do.
Im trying…well DOing as much as *I* can to put the wheels in motion.
wish I were going to BLOGHER to get that energy I know will be there!!
please to bottle some for me and mail it.
LOVE YOUR BLOG POSTS as you always get/keep my focus going.
I’m good at the daydreaming part; I work at the “doing” part even though I haven’t gotten where I want to be; what I suck at is the “appreciate every minute you have now” thing.
Time goes by so quickly that I want to stop feeling like “my life is going to be perfect when…. (insert goal here).” The whole journey/destination thing I gotta work on.
I know I want to empower women who are like me. I want to help minority women and broadcast the message that our bodies, our men, our families are not what defines us.
How to do this? I don’t know. I know blogging is integral, so I need to work on my writing BUT I know, I want a physical interaction component because I LOVE talking to people in person not just behind a computer screen.
But my truly, dream of dreams…I want to be my own boss, work out of my house and travel to help others when needed.
It’s just the HOW, that boggles me. I know I am on my way, though.
I think this is how all good ideas start - with a dream, no matter how crazy it seems.
I hope to start doing some freelance writing. I’m going to focus more on this when I finish my Master’s.
Thanks for the reminder that our dreams are important!
And though you can’t see all the details of your new life, the “sketch” of it should at least lead you on the right path!
Love this!
I daydream a lot, which I think is good, because there’s no way to make anything happen in your life if you’re not trying to visualize it and bring it to fruition in some way.
My ideal job would be more writing- and empowering-based. The flexibility to make my own schedule, rather than having to be in an office at a particular time. Owning my own home, just like you mentioned. I do some of that writing right now, at least, but (like most people who have this dream, it seems) I haven’t found a way to expand it enough to quit my 9-5.
I dream of graphic/web designing full time. Not sitting in a cube surrounded by negative people , not only designing when I can find the time, not having roadblocks at every turn when at work. I have a plan in my mind and on paper, I just know I can’t afford (i.e. take the big leap while being responsible for my kids) to do it right now. I know it CAN happen though, it will just be with baby steps…
I am so glad you posted this - I have been wrestling with this recently. Several years ago, my wife was disabled by a very debilitating neuro-motor disorder, and recovery/improvement has been slow and sometimes non-existent. For almost 6 years now, I have pretty much laid down, given up or not had time to dream. At times, life really gets caught in a ditch of the “have to do’s” - taking care of everyone around me.
Don’t get me wrong - I wouldn’t have it any other way - I gladly lay down my entire life for my sweetie and our two sons… but dreaming is important - to see beyond where we are to where we hope to be, and to remember what it is to be filled with hope and promise again.
So thanks.
J/
[…] Semi-Charmed Jen (I recently met her in person) writes a lot about personal empowerment and discovering what it is we want to do with our lives. In this post, Jen talks about the importance of having dreams. […]