Living one's dreams is a scary proposition. In the MondoBeyondo class I am taking it's all about uncovering your dreams, acknowledging them and allowing them to come true. Not choking, shaking and forcing them into existence, not insisting that they reveals themselves within the strict confines of our expectations, not that they appear in our own demanded timeline. It's actually a much more relaxed, opening up to them process.
Our assignment today is to write a bit about following our best impulses. I can think of so many applications to this in my life that it's hard to choose just one. I think I was in college when I decided to really start getting to know, listening and trusting myself. It was okay to do what I wanted to do - within the confines of good common sense. It was okay to be mindful, to enjoy life and do things that made me happy.
I have followed my best impulses into some great career opportunities. I have followed my impulses into some great friendships and relationships. I have followed my best impulses to be so lucky to have put myself in just the right place at the right time with the right people for something magical to happen. And none of these things did I expect to happen the way that they did in the end. Most often they were better than I could've imagined and in all cases I learned valuable lessons and had a new richness planted into my life.
The cases of following my best impulses that I treasure the most are those I followed when everything around me seemed to be crumbling down. This seems to happen every decade or so, a catastrophic moment where one's entire life foundation seems to crumble beneath our feet. In these moments I have been most grateful for my ability to sit down and make a list of anything that was worth hanging onto, that would be a ray of light in a dark period, that would bring me joy or could be an escape hatch from the depths of despair.
It was in creating this list that I felt my best impulses - ideas about what to do to save my little life. And it was these impulses that did indeed save me and even better they brought me to even better places, new heights, richer relationships, deeper wisdom, more confidence in myself and a higher power. These are the times when following my best instincts most rewarded me in my life.
As we continue living, life will ask us to dream bigger and more freely, more authentically. The opportunity is ours to live our dreams. I don't know that they are really dreams though, I think they are realities that already exist and are just waiting for us to accept them and walk in the door.
Foolishly we may reject them because they don't look to us like the dreams we are having. He may be perfect for you but not the man on your list you've been holding onto for years. It might be your dream job but not offer the pay or security you grew up expecting was necessary for you. It might be your dream home, it's just not as big as you thought it should be or as your friends all have. You might get your dream family but it might not be perfect, healthy, or as easy to get as you dreamed. But our dreams they are and all the joy and richness we sought along with all the lessons we needed are built inherently in the appearance of these realities/dreams.
It's an amazing life, isn't it? Joyful, rich, deep, painful, evolutionary, hilarious, peaceful, sweet. Following our best impulses is the most promising way to experience all there is for us. No fear, no holding back but full courage to charge ahead and drink it in and love all that it is.
1 comment:
I enjoyed your post and it's so true how we are taught that impulsive behavior isn't the best way to go, that's its childish and irresponsible. But I'm following an idea that seemed to come out of thin air and I'm welcoming the challenge. I know there will be trials and low spots but I'm willing to take the risk today. I'm in the Mondo Beyondo class right with ya girl! I think I'll be paying more attention to these impulses and not fear what others think in the process.
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