What if the net didn't appear?

Do you have a dream that’s sitting on the back burner? Or something that you’ve been working on that you put on pause? Maybe you took a leap only to find the net did not appear where you expected it.

Life happens. We get busy. We get distracted. We get thrown for a loop. Before we know it, we find ourselves wanting to go back to the things we know. The path that is well marked and familiar.

Your dreams are yours for a reason. You are going to experience challenges and setbacks. But the sweet goodness that comes when you do achieve your dreams is going to be worth every moment of blood, sweat and tears you experience along the way.

I invite you to decide to begin again. Start with baby steps. One each day (or each week) that will shorten the distance between you and your dreams, goals and desires. The key here is to focus only on the next step you need to take and then make it happen. Put it on your calendar and make it non-negotiable.

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Abbreviated excerpt from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

“For nearly a year, he had been working incessantly, thinking only of putting aside enough money so that he could return to Spain with pride. [ . . . ]

‘I’m going back to the field that I know, to take care of my flock again.’ He said to himself with certainty, but he was no longer happy with his decision. He had worked for an entire year to make a dream come true, and that dream, minute by minute, was becoming less important. Maybe because that wasn’t really his dream. [ . . . ]

I can always go back to being a shepherd, the boy thought. I learned how to care for sheep, and I haven’t forgotten how that’s done. But maybe I’ll never have another chance to get to the Pyramids of Egypt. [ . . . ]

The hills of Andalusia were only two hours away, but there was an entire desert between him and the Pyramids. Yet the boy felt that there was another way to regard his situation: he was actually two hours closer to his treasure . . . the fact that the two hours had stretched into an entire year didn’t matter.”

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What do you think about where you are today? It’s easy to fall into the trap of saying I should’ve done it this way or that way or I should’ve done it already. Judging yourself isn’t going to help you reach your dreams any faster. It’s time to stop beating yourself up for the lessons you’ve learned and the knowledge you’ve acquired. You did the best that you could. Acknowledge how far you’ve come, put on your big kid pants and get back out there!

The distance between where you are now and where you would like to be is gonna feel scary. There might be pieces that are unknown and changes that might flip your entire world upside down. I get it. I’ve been there too. There are moments that are going to suck on multiple levels. But there is still a treasure that is waiting just for you. A treasure that is unlike anything else you’ve ever experienced before. A treasure that is growing in value because of the price you’ve paid and the lessons you’ve learned on your way to finding it.

Your heart would not have given you the awareness of this dream if it didn’t already know you could achieve it. Trust yourself and the journey that lies ahead. You will be supported even in the moments when it doesn’t feel like it. As it says in the Alchemist, “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”