Living The Dream – Inspirational Words of Wisdom

Living The Dream

Author: Catherine Pulsifer, © 2017

Living the dream to many millions of people around the world has a variety of meanings. The meaning of living the dream, however, first needs to begin at the beginning and not at the end. So, what does starting at the beginning of living the dream mean rather than beginning at the end? Let’s find out.

Many successes can be attributed to those who dream. Dreaming is a gift where you can see things not as they are, but as they could be.

The Beginning Of Living The Dream

One of the first keys in examining the meaning of living the dream is to define more fully what is meant by “living”. The word living certainly implies that one is alive and further implies, by our cultural dictates, that living is a state of being fulfilled rather than a state of simply existing or, in other words, a state of just getting by.

The word “living” contains some of the meanings as stated below:
a) having life; being alive; not dead: as in living persons.
b) active or thriving; vigorous;
c) the means of maintaining life; livelihood: to earn one’s living.
d) a particular manner, state, or status of life: as in luxurious living.

Common Hope Of The Definition

What is the preferred cultural definition of living if we look to adopt one of the definitions above? Is it simply to be alive in that one breaths or is it a state of being active or a state of being able to earn a living or is it to live a life of luxury?

Culturally speaking, it would be more common for people to choose to live a life of luxury rather than simply to exist for the purpose of earning a living or simply being alive. The focus on what constitutes success in Western democracies also points to success as being one of attaining that which others do not yet have. It means that success is equal to being able to do what one wants to do. Thus, when we combine cultural dictates and cultural definitions, living implies living in luxury. So, if this is the decided definition, how does one attain such a lifestyle?

You Cannot Obtain What You Cannot See

Thousands of motivational authors, books or seminars speak about establishing a burning desire of what one wants to attain, a clear focus of where one wants to go. In other words, if you cannot see it, or dream it, you’ll never get it because it is similar to setting sail without not only knowing where you want to end up but sailing a boat without a rudder.

Is Having A Dream The End Or Beginning?

Now that we know what definition of living means to most people within our culture, what does a dream have to do with attaining this lifestyle? A dream is simply the mind’s vision of what one wants or what would satisfy one’s vision of reality. But, a dream is nothing more than a vision without any substance of reality. How, then, does one move from a vision to one of reality?

A Dream Dies Without A Plan

A dream is no more than an end goal without any defined means of getting there. Without a plan of action to put how a dream is envisioned to play out is like pouring out of picture of water on the ground and expecting it to stay in on the surface of the ground. We all know that water poured out onto the ground will absorb and disappear into the soil below. Such is the case also with a dream without a plan of action to begin the process of bringing it to fruition because a dream will simply disappear over one’s lifetime and totally disappear upon one’s death.

Living Your Dream Not Someone Else’s

What are the consequences of not putting your dream into action? The result is clear. You’ll be living, thereby helping, someone else put their dream into reality. This means that you’ll be working for some another person or persons who had a dream. However, the other person’s dream had legs put under it; their dream incorporated a set of actions to be taken that would move their dream closer and closer to reality.

It is not difficult to understand that when you engage in work for another person to realize that you are working every day to help them accomplish their dream. When the boss or owner goes on an exotic vacation, do you realize that you’ve helped them obtain that beautiful and exotic vacation? Do you realize that maybe, just maybe you could have been the one taking your family on that same type of vacation?

The Vital Point To Remember

This is the point I want you to remember: People who never dream, or never set goals, let life go by day by day letting others determine their destiny. Without advancing your dream through the process of setting plans to reach your goal, you are forced to accept what you have today.

Combining Living And Dream

Now, there is one other point that is very important to realize about living the dream. This point is one that thousands upon thousands of people will not want to do; it is a point that will kill a lot of dreams and thereby appoint its’ victims to have now what they will never have more of. It is a point that has two components.

Are you ready to find out what this point is? It is not a secret weapon or a special strategy. What it is, however, that every dream that is to become a reality must incorporate two aspects that are unavoidable. The first aspect is that in order to begin anything of worth, and a dream should be of worth to complete, is to recognize that there are always risks of some kind or another.

It could be the risk of investing your own money or the risk of losing friendships out of jealousy as your step by step progress unfolds or the risk of failing in your establishment of your dream. The point to remember here is that the risk of failure is not life ending when you understand that thousands of successful people experienced failure of one kind or another before they achieved success.

The second aspect of initiating any dream is that it will take hard work, determination, dedication, perseverance and sacrifice. Nothing worth doing will be simple for if it was everybody would be doing what you intend to do. The move from dream to reality will also be full of roadblocks, obstacles, nay-sayers and the necessity of backing up, reexamining how to proceed, and moving forward or around in order to advance.

Think Back To Childhood

As children, we all had lots of dreams. When we get older, some of us lose our dreams and our ambitions, and are content to accept mediocrity.

Everything that has ever been accomplished, every skyscraper, every bridge, every invention, every medical breakthrough, all started with a dream!

A Dream of A Wish

We all have dreams and wishes. The difference is that dreams are there for you to do something with – they are a component of hope for with out a dream there is no hope. A wish, however, is simply a desire to have something without doing anything to accomplish it.

If you have a dream there is a chance to turn it into reality with a good plan of action and when coupled with a burning passion, there is hope that it will turn out. The main thing to remember is to stay focused long enough to bring it to completion. Nothing that is worth doing happens overnight and nothing can be accomplished without dedication and a willingness to overcome any obstacle in your path.

Inspirational Quotes for Reflection:

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.” Edgar Allan Poe

“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” Bill Copeland

“That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.” Abraham Lincoln

“Sometimes, people use age as a convenient excuse. ‘I’m to old too start something new’, or, ‘I couldn’t learn that at my age.’ Other people, though, go on to achieve their greatest accomplishments in life in later years.” Catherine Pulsifer

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