We all have dreams. Something we feel is bigger than ourselves. Something we were kind of destined to do.
Most of us though, get stuck here, and never really move forward.
We feel that life just happened to us, and now, our responsibility and focus lies elsewhere, stripping us the opportunity to chase that dream. How many of us have thought, “Dreams? Those are for the lucky few. Mine will not come true.”
And then we’re miserable. Whether we want to admit it or not we hold resentment for the people or the circumstances we believe held us (or still hold us) back. Essentially, we feel sorry for ourselves.
But does it have to be that way?
I believe we’re all destined for something, yes. But the problem for us when it comes to achieving our dreams is the scale at which we view them – it lies in how the idea of “dreams” were painted to us and ultimately perceived by us, making what we think we know, our reality.
First of all, dreams are made to seem like they need to be an outrageously ambitious goal that leads to something that makes it all worth it. Recognition. Accolades. Wealth. Fame. Go down in history with a bang, kinda thing.
But is that really so? Who planted the seed that success and achieving your dreams were really all about the glory and glamour? And really, does it have to be that complex and elaborate?
On the other end, there are those that have big dreams, but allow the disillusion of others to hold them back. “Really? You want to do that? Oh, come on. Don’t you think that’s over-ambitious? Why don’t you get a normal job like everybody else? Security is what you need, not dreams.”
I feel that if we buy into either idea, then essentially we’re shooting ourselves in the foot. If we do not achieve our “ambitious” goals, then we feel like failures. And on the other spectrum, if we allow ourselves to not try, then we hold a grudge or a chip on our shoulder because we believe deep down inside we were destined for something bigger and more amazing but then “life” and “people” let us down and kept us from our dreams.
Screw all that. Everyone has dreams and everyone’s dreams can come true. Only you can make it happen though.
But first you need to get your reality right. Steve Jobs said:
“When you grow up you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world, try not to bash into the walls too much, try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader, once you discover one simple fact, and that is that everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.”
And then John Lennon said:
“When I was five years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
Between these two quotes, what’s important is that you define what is important to you (and only you) and what you believe will ultimately make you happy.
There is no dream that is too small or too big. Your dream is yours and it’s all up to you to decide how you want to embrace it and go for it. And if you choose to not go for it, you better make sure you’re really okay with that, or you’re going to live with one heck of a regret for the rest of your life.
This is what Authentic Woman is all about.
Marina and I knew over a year ago that something else was stirring inside of us and missing at the same time. We had all these dreams and goals. But we found ourselves a bit miserable. We were committed to our full-time jobs which we enjoyed and were good at, we had our families to take care of, friends to support. We were so caught up in life we watched the people around us go for their “real” dreams and we tried our best to keep our own heads over the water.
While we were going through this, our husbands were doing amazing things with their lives. Inspiration was right before our eyes but we didn’t see it at the time cause we were so caught up in everything else. Marina’s husband always wanted to be an entrepreneur and he was living that dream growing it more and more. My husband loves his music and has always balanced his day job while writing great songs and recording albums at night.
Together we had our A-ha moment when we asked ourselves: “Who told us our dreams had to be huge and bring along riches or fame? We’re quite happy where we are financially. More money would be great but it’s not what we were seeking. We have great relationships with our friends and family – we do the work it takes to nurture those. We were proud of and loved to support our husbands. Yet, why are we so unhappy?”
We realized that the answer was something simple. There was nothing in the picture of our own lives that we were doing just for ourselves, and no one else.
When we asked ourselves what that could be, we both said “writing”. Sharing our thoughts. Helping others.
And so Authentic Woman was born. It was something that was supposed to be a journal for all to see. If we could help people, great. But personally, our souls were fulfilled because we had our own little creative outlet to express our thoughts, learnings, and deepest desires. To each other and anyone else who wanted to read and listen.
So much magic happened through that – this blog took a life on its own and grew beyond what we expected it to be. I remember we had said, “Even if we had 100 likes on Facebook we’d be happy with that.”
In less than a year with no advertising or marketing, we’re almost at 1000 likes on Facebook and the site gets anywhere about 2000 unique visitors a month… Wow. We feel so blessed. To us that is a huge accomplishment that makes us tingle.
It’s turned into a blog with weekly articles, and a Facebook and Instagram page that posts daily inspirational quotes. We receive letters and messages from readers who tell us how much our quotes and articles inspire them. It keeps us going.
We’re not making any money from the site, we’re just putting our thoughts out there. We work late nights and on weekends, we’re constantly writing, editing, searching for pictures, creating quote art. It’s like a second (or third!) job. But yet, we’re fuelled and not once have we said we were tired or burdened by it all.
In fact, the more we do it the more energy we have. The more ideas we have for things we want to do with Authentic Woman in the future.
It’s spectacular – the magic that has come out of such a simple idea; of living your dream.
It’s allowed Marina and I to live ours for writing and honestly, even if we die tomorrow, we’d be happy because we knew we fully committed to everything we love in our lives. Even if we’re not millionaires or publically recognized.
Through us just going for it, we are blessed to have people inspire us to keep going; people who are essentially angels powering us on, like you, our readers. You made this all worth it.
The point in all of this, is that we want you to know, if you’re stuck, that you too can make your dreams come true. First know what it is, and then do it. Even if it’s making time every weekend to bake, or hike, or read. Or maybe it’s a business idea that you believe in that noone else does. Or the desire to apply for a particular job you always had your eye on.
Don’t give up. Know that passion is what fuels us in life and even if the idea sounds like it would swap out the other important responsibilities and commitment in your life, know that that’s not true. In fact, it will probably fuel and energize you even more, and keep you going to live your best possible life.
Also – there is no such thing as failing. But there such thing as giving up and being a failure. Just don’t be that. 🙂
“Winners never quit, quitters never win.” Vince Lombardi
And with that, I’d love to end by sharing one of my favourite speeches of all time.
Most people collect things, I collect quotes and speeches. I let them sit in my soul and lead me to where I need to go through a drummer that sits in my heart.
This is a speech by Les Brown and it’s called “The Awakening”. I remember reading this speech about two years ago at 32 and it really shook me up. I decided that it was time to pursue what has been brewing in me all my life.
To write, even if noone was reading.
I shared my story with Marina, and through synchronicity, here we are today.
I hope you enjoy the speech and that it moves you to the core the way it did for me – it’s a quick 4-minute inspiring video. If you like to read speeches, I’ve included the copy below too. 🙂
Follow your heartsong, you’ll thank yourself for it, trust me.
The Awakening by Les Brown
Most of us go through life pretending that we don’t have any special goals or ambitions or desires when really deep down inside we do really want more. We block ourselves and we use these words almost like we’re in a trance, like we’re sleep-walking through life, that we find ways to cancel out our dreams, that a lot of things that we want to do, a lot of places we would like to go, a lot of things we would like to experience, and we just stop at “but”.
“But” will cause you to hide out behind fear, “but” will cause you to come up with all types of excuses that you can validate your inaction and not acting on your dream. “But” is a dream-killer.
But most people, you know what they do? Most people go through life quietly and safely tiptoeing to an early grave. We’ve been holding back, we have ideas we that don’t act on, things that we want to do, we’re afraid to take chances. See, a lot of people say “no” to things and they don’t even know what they’re saying “no” to! Don’t allow “but” to keep you in the corner.
There are a lot of people who say, “But I tried once,” or “twice” and “it didn’t work out” and so they use that as an excuse not to ever come out again. Even if things don’t work out, even if I experience defeat or failure, that does not make me a failure.
There’s a difference between failing and being a failure. If things don’t work out, if you don’t produce the results you want, that’s all, but don’t confuse who you are with the results that you produce.
Do what you can where you are with what you have, and never be satisfied. Yeah, don’t get satisfied with yourself. Always know that wherever you are, you can enjoy more, that you deserve more. Why don’t you decide now that you can expand your world, that if other people can learn you can learn, too.
If you’re working on you dream, sure they’re gonna be times when you’re gonna want to give up, sure there will be times when life will knock you down and catch you on the blind side, but the challenge is, is to hold on. And if you hold on tenaciously, I say the universe is on your side.
See If you don’t decide to act on your dream, if you don’t decide to make a decision to live your life, if you don’t decide to step into your fears, if you don’t decide to say “yes” to your life, it will never work for you. You’ve got to live what’s in your life, life is just too short and unpredictable.
But what do we say? “But there will always be tomorrow.“
Oh, no. There’s no guarantees that you’re gonna show up tomorrow. Always something there, to build a case for why the you can’t move on, why you can’t grow to the next level, why you can’t begin to manifest your greatness, why you can’t begin to live life on your terms, that you’re gonna say “it’s not worth it.”
Yes, that’s going to be right there for you, it’s going to be in your face, telling you to go back. So if you want to do something, if you’ve thought about something you want to do, take it head-on. Life will never be the same again.
Live your dream.
Is it possible for you to have all your dreams become a reality in your lifetime? Yes, it is possible. But the real question you should be asking yourself: have you made the decision?
Are you living your dream? Please share your story with us below to inspire others too. 🙂