We all have a dream inside of us. Yes. Every single one of us.
Some of us may know exactly what our dreams are – we have vision boards and journal entries and action plans leading us straight to our dream.
And some of us may worry that we don’t know what our dream is – we feel stuck and uncertain and wonder if maybe we are one of the few people who was born into this life without a purpose.
Whichever category you fall into, please know that we have all been there. We all have moments where we fully embrace our calling, and we also have moments where we shy away from it and maybe aren’t even sure what it is.
I definitely know what each feels like. I know how it feels to have that clear vision – to go after it and to see my dream come to life. And I also know how it feels to be lost and sad and unsure about why I was born and what I was meant to do.
I wasn’t always living my soul’s purpose. Definitely not.
Like many of us, I began my journey in this lifetime completely open to sharing my true self with the world. I believed that dreams were possible, and I lived with an open heart. I sang sweet songs about loving everything and drew pretty pictures with lots of hearts. I wrote sappy poems to everyone in my family, and I just loved how it felt to have love pouring out of me all of the time.
And then, somewhere along the way, I realized that living this way wasn’t going to work. Living with an open heart was a surefire way to get hurt. And that’s exactly what happened to me. Trusting people and being vulnerable opened me up to heartache, and so I began to close my heart. I stopped trusting. I stopped sharing my true self with others. I allowed my brain to take over, and I let it run the show for many years. My heart took a back seat, and I immersed myself with things that were logical and safe – things that couldn’t hurt me (such as statistics and skepticism and science and editing).
And this worked for a little while. But I kept hearing my soul’s tiny whisper – asking me to reconsider, asking me to just listen to it for a moment, asking me to please allow it to drive my life again.
I continued to ignore it until I couldn’t ignore it any longer. My marriage ended. I was in a horrible car accident. I lost my job. I needed to move. And my life as I knew it was gone forever.
While it didn’t feel this way at the time, looking back I can see that I was given a fresh start. While my body was healing, I was able to reflect on my life – to see how far away from my purpose I had gone. I had space to go within and get to know myself again. I was able to see that the me that I was as a child (open and loving and creative and sensitive) was the me that I truly was – this was my essence. And I wanted to nurture these parts of myself and bring them to life again.
I started dreaming for the first time in many, many years. I starting imagining how my life would be if I were living it exactly how I wanted. And I started creating a plan to help me bring it to life.
While the process was a bit convoluted and seemingly random (I definitely didn’t wake up one morning and say that I wanted to help others get in touch with their soul and reach their dreams…), looking back I can see how each experience led to the next, which led to the next, which led to where I am right now.
And what each of these experience had in common is that I said yes to them. I walked through them rather than shutting down and turning away and cowering and allowing my brain to tell me a million reasons why they didn’t make sense.
I said yes to my life – to living my purpose. I said yes to me.
And I am truly living my dream. I am living my purpose. I am expressing my gifts to the world. I am doing what I came here to do.
And because I have felt both sides (not living my dream and living my dream), I know how each feels. And I also know how wonderful and life-affirming it feels to move from not living on purpose to stepping into your calling and sharing your light with the world.
Bringing your dreams to life doesn’t mean that everything is all of a sudden perfect – that butterflies and rainbows follow you everywhere.
But it does mean that the possibilities are endless. It does mean that you are allowing your soul to drive, which is what connects you to the universe. It does mean that you get to share your message with the world, which only you can share. And that’s pretty wonderful.
Wherever you are in your own journey of embracing your soul’s purpose and living your dreams, please remember that it’s just one step at a time. Just one decision to live on purpose that leads to another decision and another. And pretty soon you’ll look back and see that you’re living your dream.
Stay awake. Pay attention to your soul’s whispers. Say yes to your life. Bravely step into your dreams – one step at a time.
I know that you can. And I hope that you will.
Here’s to all of us reaching our dreams!
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Hugs,
Hey Jodi,
I definitely resonate with the ideas of listening to your soul and taking action to make your dreams come true…
I think we are all under tremendous pressure to meet expectations of others and of ourselves. But we don’t need to be perfect and we don’t need to live according to rules made by others.
If we listen to our heart and if in the process of going for our dreams, we also support others to do the same, then the world becomes a nicer place. At least a little bit! 🙂
Inspiring post!
Cornel
Hi Cornel,
Thank you so much for commenting! I LOVE what you said about listening to our heart and reaching our dreams that way – rather than trying to be perfect and meet the expectations of others. Beautifully said and so true!
And I’m all for the world becoming a nicer place. 🙂
Hey Jodi.
Just times we just have to Be, not Think!
Naturally, not thinking doesn’t equate to not existing. Not enjoying. Not being productive. Not having fun. Or not being. No, it just means not thinking. And not all the time, of course, but sometimes. For a while.
A cerebral ‘time-out’, of sorts.
Can I have a mind devoid of thought and still be? Of course I can because I exist independent of my thought. And lack of thought. Thinking is not my permanent state but rather an optional state – when I learn to manage my inner space. Thinking is not who I am but what I do. There’s thinking me and non-thinking me.
And they can both serve a positive purpose in my life.
Of course, a life devoid of thought is no life. So too, a life devoid of occasional inner silence is no life either. Some of us have bought into the lie that we are our thoughts. Well, it’s just not true. They are not us and we are not them. Sure, they can influence and affect us (in major and minor ways) but they only have the power that we allow them to have.
Hi Craig,
Thanks for your comment!
It’s definitely so important to allow ourselves to get out of our heads for awhile and just BE. You’re absolutely right that we are not our thoughts – we are the observer of our thoughts. And knowing that brings such freedom with it.
🙂
What a wonderful, encouraging post!! And you mastermind group sounds just wonderful Jodi!
Thanks for these reminders.
xoxo
Betsy
Thank you so much, Betsy! I’m super excited for it! XO
Jodi, your blog post is very timely and very uplifting. Thanks so much.
Thanks so much, Andrea! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
I’m learning to say “yes” to my life, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Thanks for the encouragement Jodi!
Alex
I can’t wait to see what you say yes to, Alex! You give so much to the world, and I am excited to see what happens when you step into your dreams. Big hug!
Yes!! So very true: Following your dream does not make everything perfect all of a sudden, but it opens up infinite possibilities. Plus, whatever life throws in your way (or rather, whatever I attract), it’s much easier to face and overcome things when you are in alignment with your heart and soul 🙂
Much love!! xx
Hi Sibylle!
Exactly and well said! We are definitely always attracting to us what we’re putting out, and so we may as well be stepping into our dreams and bringing more of that loving energy into our life. Hugs!
Glorious! I’m right there with ya, girl. Following my dream step by step, day by day. Sometimes it seems really foggy and confusing, but I know everything is unfurling as it should.
Hi Cassandra!
I love that you’re following your dream – taking that leap! And it sounds like you’re living a whole lot of faith along the way, too. It would be so easy if we could see the outcome, right? But it wouldn’t be a leap of faith. 🙂 So happy that you’re living your dream! Hugs!
Jodi,
I have been following your blog for some time but I hardly comment although something about this message really pulled me in. I feel as though I have been on both sides of the bridge as well. Deep in my eating disorder, I felt worthless and like my life was pointless, but now, after recovering I am free and my purpose is clearer than ever! Thanks for sharing such a wonderful post.
Hi Tayla!
Thank you so much for your comment. I’m so happy to hear that you have recovered from your eating disorder and have recognized your life purpose – that is huge and definitely something to honor yourself for. I look forward to hearing all of the ways that you’re stepping into your dream. Hugs!
Hello
So much of your wonderful blog post rang true with my own feelings from past experiences. Ignoring our inner self only creates trouble! But, for some of us we need to go there to re-build don’t we? The journey to the life we want and personal recovery can be joyful and exciting though – worth the struggle in the end I say! And the journey never really ends, it just keeps going from wonderful to even better!
Charlotte
x
Hi Jodi – such a great article. I was actually just thinking about this today. I don’t know why it took me so long to figure out, but I am so happy I did. I know both feelings indeed and it is great to be on the other side of it. (Still a lot to go in that direction). It also feels great to help others find their way. That’s what it is all about!
Hi Kari!
Thanks so much for your comment! I’m so happy that you’re on the other side of this, too! And now we can help others move to this side as well. Hugs!