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
