What's in your dream box?

Where are your dreams? Are they tucked safely away in a box, full of clippings, articles, books, or other reminders of where you want to go? Maybe it is safely hidden under your bed or someplace even safer...in your mind, where no one will ever find it. Guess what? We all have them. Some of us have taken steps to pursue those dreams and others are still waiting...what you we waiting for? For some reason, Walt Disney comes to mind right now. His vision for seeing something for families to enjoy probably is nothing like what we know as the Disney corporation today. What do you dream about? For months, I have been encouraging the women of the G.I.F.T. to look deep to find their dreams. I am not sure if they actually do their "homework", but if anything they might look at life differently and I have planted the seed that one day may grow. They help me pursue my dreams as I shared with them last night some exciting news that occurred during the week. Here is what I have learned about my dream box...I thought I knew exactly what I had put in it so long ago. I had it hidden so well, that I had difficulty finding it. Then when I did, dusting it off and pulling out those items and beliefs was more like extracting things from a time capsule that had been buried 50 years ago. It was hard for me to accept that my heart wasn't there anymore and the things that I thought I wanted were no longer inportant to me. I had to let them go. That in itself can free you to the possibility of new dreams. In August of 2010, I shared my dream with Rock. Over the last year and half, I have taken some steps to make that dream a reality and continue to do so every day. There is a picture in my office that reads, "Create your own dreams and you create passion. Create dreams in others and you create heaven." I am doing both. My dream box is filled with different ideas, thoughts, and places I see myself in my future. My dream box will not be placed back under the bed to be forgotten and collect dust and spider webs. It is a living part of me, that I could never tuck away again, even in my mind. It must be shared. So again I ask you, what's in your dream box?

So, I was thinking...

I know that is a scary thought. Please do not be too alarmed. In hindsight, I have posted about wondering how I got to "here" and how my life has changed. But today, I was thinking if I could even imagine what my life would be like if it had stayed the same as it was almost 20 months ago. I would still probably be 35 pounds heavier, slowly crawling through the episodes of life, and you would never would have read one word from this blog. Not one. As much as I try to imagine what it would be like going back (or still living) my old life, it is almost impossible. Unfathonable. Seriously? Seriously. Things are so different now...for the good...that I am not sure that I could ever really picture me being here right now...living my old life. Being the person I USED to be. Feeling the way I USED to feel. Living the way I USED to live. I am very confident when I say that I know Rock would not be here and I would not have opened my heart to her and the many other wonderful people that I have let see the real me. It would not have happened. I finally got over having regrets and everything that went with them - whether it was saying things and wishing I could take it back to not following my heart when it's beat was so loud it left a pounding echo in its wake. I change every day...I recommit to this life and all that it will bring my way, whether it is good or bad as things happen as they are meant to. I search for the strength and courage to do things I never thought about, let alone think they were possible. Now, there are no barriers that will stop me. There are no words that will make me question what I am setting out to do and who I am meant to be. No, I just cannot think I could imagine my old life and me being in it. Sure, I cannot undo what has been done, but I can make it better. I can at least try, anyway. That is what I am determined to do. Even if I fail and am not sure how to fix it. With the understanding that my life will never be the same again. Ever.