What do you dare to dream for yourself?
What do you dare to dream for others?
What do you dare to dream for your community?
What do you dare to dream for our world?
What are your dreams made of and why haven’t you yet started out on a journey towards that which you feel the urge to go after?
For quite some time I’ve been feeling my own call. A call to step up and offer support to women – the Visionaries, Change Makers, and Trailblazers – (although they wouldn’t describe themselves quite like that) who sometimes doubt themselves and their own ability to do what they know in their heart they SHOULD be doing; who often feel Unseen, Unheard, and Unappreciated and who want to make major changes in their lives but aren’t to sure how to go about doing that. I’ve been feeling the nudge to offer a much deeper level of support and partnering to these women that I’ve never offered before.
The thing is that I wanted this seeing and encouraging of potential in women and circumstances to remain a neat, pretty, well managed vision in my mind. I realized only recently what a small game I chose to play. Yes I am doing some things – I’m writing, I’m posting inspirational things on facebook, I’m writing encouraging words on my blog but I realize that until I act it all out, incarnate, flesh it all out, make it real in this physical world where I’m living, moving and being then I’d really only be part fulfilling my purpose. I need to move from my head and heart into my hands and feet. What about you?
I’ve always maintained that our mess is our message – that every single person who walks planet earth has a specific purpose to fulfill while here. Morihei Usehiba says “Mankind’s role is to fulfill his heaven-sent purpose through a sincere heart that is in harmony with all creation and loves all things.” Many people will say that they don’t know what their purpose is but chances are they are already fulfilling that purpose by what they already do. Through the kind words they share, their organizational skills, their ability to plant seeds and grow a garden, to make a big pot of soup and share it, to volunteer, or to say thank you like no one else could! Charles Dickens said “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” And what exactly do I mean by our mess being our message is simply this: The only way for us to help ourselves is to help others by sharing our stories (which could sometimes be messy for us) but give so much hope to others and make them realize that if you got through it that they probably could too.
So why aren’t you playing a much bigger game? If you’re waiting on permission then here it is:
You have permission to be who you are, to love what you love and to be with people you wish to be with. You have permission to do the things you dream to do, to ask questions and to experience all the pains and pleasures of your life that intertwined makes it a joyous and fulfilling journey. You have permission to slow down – to listen to what your body is telling you it needs. You have permission to explore the innermost chamber of your heart and respond to its request.
You have permission to see the good in yourself – yes there is good in you. As we encourage others, remember we too need encouragement. Before we can give to others, we must have something to give. Dare to get to know the real you. “Self conquest is really self-surrender” Thomas Merton cautions. “Yet before we can surrender ourselves we must become ourselves. For no one can give up what he does not possess.”
Take a good look at your life from the perspective of a gardener. Look at the bare soil and begin to see flowers and fruit, the vegetables and herbs that could grow there. See what your garden can be and then take practical steps to plant, weed, cultivate, water, wait and eventually reap a good harvest.
You no longer have to twist yourself into knots to become someone you are not. You don’t have to not live out loud in parts of your life just so that you fit into someone else’s idea of how you should be and what you should be doing. You can ‘do you!’ Let go of everything that you’ve been holding onto so tightly. Let the light in and allow growth and change to happen. You’ve spent too much time beating yourself up for past mistakes, disappointments and failures. You already possess everything to become the great person you were meant to be. No one needs to tell you about all the times you failed to make the right decision and follow through on it. Take comfort in knowing that for everything there is a season – an appropriate time – perhaps now is your season and so I ask again “If not now – when? When will you give birth to your dream?”
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