It seems impossible that it’s nearly Easter, but here we are, and life is just as crazy busy as ever. I stopped today to look at my planner, see what I’ve done this year and how many of those things were on my goals sheet. You have a goals sheet don’t you? During the year I often check back to see if I’m where I want to be. A lot of times when the excitement has drained from our writing or we’re bored with the tedium of work and responsibilities, it’s because we’ve forgotten our dreams.
There are mortgages to pay and kids to raise and groceries to buy and dinners to prepare. Besides that there are books to promote and cars that need oil changes and graduations and—fill in the blank. That’s life. But tucking away our aspirations at the expense of our personal well-being isn’t healthy. Eventually we resent the things that are “robbing” us, instead of enjoying each facet for the richness it brings. Certainly there is joy to be found in the dream of your own home and in the treasure of children, but sometimes we pause in the midst of all that busyness to wonder, “Is this all there is?” There has to be more, and we yearn to find fulfillment within ourselves. That’s most often the time to reprioritize our busy schedules.
Look at the goals you set for this year. If you missed the mark, just start over. Don’t beat yourself up over what you didn’t do; just start today and look forward. If you didn’t make a list, it’s not too late to get started. Take time now. Sit down and write five things you dream of doing. Divide them into categories if you like: Family, Professionally, Writing, Spiritually, or Just for Me. Now select one that you will devote yourself to work on before the end of summer. Make another list of the steps you will take to see that accomplishment come to pass.
Now take those steps. Recapture the joy. We need to be participants in our lives, not spectators. We need to be passionate about our dreams. Sometimes simply revisiting our dreams is the kick we need to change our thinking and get us out of a rut. So dream big and dream often.
All the photos are mine.
If you haven’t read Donnelly’s Promise yet, you can read it in its entirely here for free:
http://cherylstjohn.blogspot.com/p/free-story-donnellys-promise.html
Land of Dreams for Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/awe75qd
Colorado Courtship (Winter of Dreams) Anthology LIH 1/13
Visit me on the web: http://www.cherylstjohn.net/
From the Heart: http://cherylstjohn.blogspot.com/
at the first picture, I knew they had to be yours! 🙂
Breaking down dreams and goals into steps is so important. It’s a grand feeling of accomplishment to cross something off the list and know I’m heading in the right direction.
As always, you are an inspiration.
Beautiful close-up on that butterfly! Gorgeous. Have you ever read the book The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson? It has a spiritual slant, but speaks powerfully about how dreams shape who we are and who we are meant to be. I read it before I was published, and it was one of the things that kept me going when discouragement tried to set in.
Thanks for the reminder today about the power of dreams!
Thank you, *lizzie! You inspire me as well. xoxo
Karen, I’m going to look for that book now. Thanks for the tip!
great post!
beautiful pictures
lovely quotes
great reminders
thank you 🙂
Cheryl,
Thanks so much for the beautiful reminder. It’s so easy to let our dreams get lost in the process of living. It’s great to be reminded to shoot for the stars!
Cheryl, lovely post. That Eleanor Roosevelt quote is one of my all time favorites – I have it in my office.
What a beautiful blog today, Cher! The pictures are gorgeous and the message is received. I needed the reminder. Like you said we all get stuck in ruts and that’s where I am. I’ll take steps today to get back on track.
I’ve downloaded THE WEDDING JOURNEY into my Kindle but haven’t started it yet. I’m anxious to though as soon as I get a free minute.
Thanks to you, too, Tabitha.
Thanks for visiting, Kirsten.
Me, too, Winnie.
Good for you, Linda. Reach for the stars!
Lovely pictures, Cheryl.
You are so right. We should all set goals, and it does help to write them down. It helps us think about what is important and lets us state our dreams. If we don’t reach them, we need to remember they are goals – something to strive for. If we don’t accomplish them, we haven’t failed. You only fail if you don’t at least think about them and work for them. I have some I know I will probably never reach – like having a spotlessly clean house – but I can try.
Think about those goals and enjoy them. You will be surprised how close you will get to them.
Thanks for a thoughtful post. I will be reading DONNELLY’S PROMISE tomorrow. It is way past time for me to get to bed.