WOW Dare to Dream: Let Your Vision Guide You Your vision will become clear if you look

inside your own heart. Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside awakens Carl Jung

What does it mean to let your vision guide you? Everything begins in our imagination. Before anything becomes a reality we must first envision it, think about it, and feel the emotions associated with our thoughts. If we dwell on something long enough, our thoughts and feelings begin to show in our words and our actions. This is illustrated in the famous quote by Lao Tzu: Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become action. Watch your actions; they become habit. Watch your habits; they become your character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. This quote demonstrates the importance of monitoring our thoughts, since they eventually turn into our reality. It also teaches us that to follow our vision we must first become clear in our mind about what our vision is (i.e., what is it we want from life?). Once we have a clear picture of what we want, we can begin to take action that is inspired by our vision. Q1: Do you agree that our thoughts can eventually turn into our reality? How can what we think influence our dream or vision in life? Do you have a clear vision of what you want? Discovering Your Passion To allow your vision to guide you, you must first clarify what it is you want. To do this, it is helpful to identify the things you are passionate about. Some people have lost touch with what brings them a feeling of joy and excitement. This can happen if we are people pleasers, always putting others needs before our own; or if we have devoted to much energy to work, and not enough to play. When this happens we lose touch with what makes us feel good, and what we want in our life. We become so focused on making sure others around us feel good that we dont take notice of how we are feeling until we become sick and depressed. This is when we take notice, but at this point we no longer recognize what brings us joy. Steps to Rediscover your Passion 1) Start paying attention to how you feel. What brings you enjoyment? What makes you feel drained? What are the things you look forward to in the day? Most people dont feel the same emotions all day long; our emotions are constantly changing. Even a depressed person has parts of their day where they feel better than others. Notice the times you are

feeling at your best. What are you thinking? What are you doing? Who are the people around you? 2) Imagine that you didnt have to worry about money, or time restrictions. What would you spend your day doing? Where would you go? Who would be with you? What would you be doing? How would you feel? Answering these questions will help you understand the things that energize you. 3) Think about what you enjoyed doing as a child. What toys did you like to play with? What games were you attracted too? For many of us, our childhood was a time when we were free of worry and stress; we were able to be creative and explore our imagination. Thinking back to those early years may rekindle things we are still passionate about today, but have not made time for. Q2: Do you think any of the steps to rediscover your passion will be helpful to you? Creating a Vision Board A Vision board is a visual portrayal of the things we want in our life. It is often constructed using a piece of bristle board and pasting pictures on it from magazines. It may portray pictures of friends, which represent the importance of friendship. It can also portray things we dont presently have, but hope to gain in the future. For example, a new car, or a picture of a place we would like to travel. Vision boards can also display pictures that represent different emotional states we would like to achieve. For instance, someone smiling can represent our desire for happiness; or a picture of a beach may represent our desire for peace. Vision boards help us to stay focused on what we want, as opposed to what we dont want. Creating a vision board is a powerful reminder of the importance of staying focused on what we want, and keeping our thoughts positive. Let Your Feelings Guide You Just as our thoughts are important as we follow our vision, our emotions also serve an important role. In fact, our emotions are tied to our thoughts. For instance, if we are feeling sad or depressed our thoughts will also be negative. When we are feeling excited, happy, and at peace our thoughts will be positive. So if we are feeling poorly this is an indication that we are not following our vision for life. We may be more focused on not having what we want, or that things arent going our way. Some people find it easier to identify how they are feeling, than what they are thinking. Becoming aware of how we are feeling is so important. Our emotions can act as a powerful guide that lets us know if we are on the right track, or if we need to adjust our thinking.

It is also important to remind ourselves that we need to be happy where we currently are, before we can get to where we want to be. Often times people look for happiness outside of themselves, when happiness is found within. Looking for things to be grateful for where we currently are will help us get to where we want to be much faster. Surround Yourself with People who Support You It is important that we have people around us who support our dreams, and encourage us to follow them. Stay away from people who are negative and discourage you from doing what you are passionate about. Be selective about who you share your dreams with. Make sure it is with people who are kind, supportive, and make you feel safe. Remember, you are not expected to do it all on your own, so dont be afraid to ask for help. Q3: Do you have people in your life who you feel comfortable sharing your vision with? How is it helpful to have their support? Put a Plan in Place Each morning set a goal or intention for the day. It could be deciding that today you are going to feel good no matter what happens. Or you may decide youre going to complete a task on your to-do list. The important thing is that you are moving forward. You dont have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step Martin Luther King, Jr. As long as you are moving in the direction you want to go each day, you are on the right track! Remember, your feelings are important indicators you can use throughout your day that let you know if your thoughts are focused on the positive or negative. Remember these Important Points Believe in yourself. When you believe in yourself you will be more confident; when you have confidence in yourself, other people will also have confidence in you. Remember, a belief is just a thought you keep thinking. So keep thinking positive thoughts about yourself until you truly believe you can accomplish anything. Silence you inner critic. Be aware of your self-talk. Change the negative messages you send yourself to positive ones. Replace the I cant with I can or I want to. Know where you are going. Have a clear picture in mind of what you want to achieve or accomplish. This does not mean you know exactly what you have to do to get there. It means you know what you are working toward. Having this end result in mind will excite you and move you forward.

 Love yourself unconditionally. Love yourself despite your flaws and mistakes. No one is perfect, and loving yourself unconditionally requires self-acceptance. When you love yourself unconditionally you know that you deserve to achieve your dreams because you feel a sense of worthiness. Be grateful for the journey. Take time to appreciate how far you have come, and be grateful for where you are. Pastor Joel Osteen says, You have to come to your closed doors before you get to the open ones. Accept the good and bad, the ups and downs, as all part of the journey, and keep moving forward. Face your fears. Fear can be seen as a blessing in that it helps us discover how courageous we can be. It does not need to be seen as a bad thing if we dont allow the emotion to control us. Facing our fears helps us to align with our power. Learn from mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. It is important that we learn from them, and then move on. Feeling guilty over past mistakes doesnt fix them; it just prevents us from moving forward. Take responsibility. Stop blaming other people and take responsibility. Dont waste valuable energy trying to control the people around you, or the things outside of your control. Instead take responsibility for yourself; this will empower you to move forward. Take care of your body. Make sure you are treating your body well, and giving it what it needs to stay healthy. Mental health is related to physical health so fuel your body with food that makes it feel good, and stretch and go for walks to keep your energy flowing. Live in the present. Let go of the past, and focus all of your energy in the present. Forgive yourself for past mistakes, and take the lessons you have learned from obstacles you have faced. Have fun. Do the things you enjoy often. Choose to make time for fun! Even when you are doing tasks you dont really enjoy (i.e., work, chores) choose to bring a positive attitude and look for things you like about the situation.

Q4: What points stand out for you? What ones do you need to start practicing? What ones are you good at? All of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them Walt Disney

Kara Melendy, MA, Counselling Psychology