what would you do if you could do anything and knew you wouldn't fail? and i mean anything. i asked a few people this question earlier this week and got a variety of answers - most of which centered around career dreams, but one boldly said "world peace - if i knew i could do it and it would stick, i would make world peace happen". each answer made me smile. i loved the loftiness of them; like i gave them permission to really dream...to think about their life like the nine year old version of themselves would - full of promise and opportunity, lacking disappointment and failure, certain that the world is theirs for the their answers came quickly with little hesitation. and then the same thing happened with each one...they turned the question around on me...
that used to be a tough question for me to answer for some reason. i think it leads back to being in college and reading through course catalogs, trying to find something that interested me enough to commit to doing it for the rest of my life. which lead me to changing my major...oh, five times. i see the world with so many possibilities, yet am acutely aware of my abilities and limitations which typically causes me to be overly practical and cautious and doesn't allow much room for absolute daydreaming. but, this time it was easy for me...
i would write. books, magazines...whatever i want. without the fear of failing. and i would...wait for it...these are the entertaining ones...be a motivational speaker or have my own talk show. i know. those are a bit out there, but this is all about "if you could do anything and not fail"....so, at this point in my life, those are my dreams...my "if i could's".
i suppose the flip side of this coin would be to imagine your life exactly as you want it...maybe easier to imagine...maybe easier to create in some ways, more difficult in others. oddly, that dream is way more simple for me and doesn't involve a life much different than the one i currently lead... i have a job i genuinely love, a daughter i wouldn't replace for anything, a family i love like crazy and friends i can't imagine living without. those are the important things, but if i am totally honest i would say that i dream of creating a life, a home, with someone...or, even at this point, finding the perfect little home for m and i...in my dream we travel - a lot...in my dream i find ways to spend even more time with those friends and family who mean so much to me...and i maybe drive a different car although i can't say what...and i find a way to make peace with the things that haunt me... i wouldn't wish to be taller and i don't need a big house or a ton of money. i would fix sarah's heart and bring carter back....and i wouldn't waste a single minute on stupid things, but waste as much time as possible on the little things that when you add them all up make up a lifetime of perfect.
take time to dream...to imagine your life without any self-imposed boundaries. what does it look like? and how badly do you want to get there? dare to take one tiny step forward and see where it gets you. even if you end up taking two steps backwards, you will at least know that you weren't afraid to try. your dreams, your life, are only as big...or as small...as you allow them to be.
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