“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.” –  Pope John XXIII

Let me ask you something:  Do you ever wake up wondering what you are doing with your life and how and why you ended up where you did?  Do you have a constant longing for something more that gnaws away at the deepest recesses of your heart and soul?

If you said yes to either of these things then let me also ask you this:  What is stopping you from changing, from doing something different or from creating a new life?

If He Can Do It So Can You

A little over five years ago Jon Morrow wrote, How To Quit Your Job Move To Paradise and Get Paid to Change The World.   At the time his post went viral and was read by millions of people.  If you haven’t read it stop what you are doing and read it now.

What exactly makes this post so powerful?  What makes it powerful is the fact that he had a dream, he made a plan to fulfill that dream, he executed the plan and it all worked.  He did what we all want to do which is to figure out our dreams, set goals for those dreams, reach those goals and find a way to do bring some sense of peace into our lives.

In case you didn’t read the post, let me add one little thing.  Jon Morrow is in a wheelchair with no functional use of his extremities.

So, if he can do it, why can’t you?

What Are Your Dreams?

Recently I came to realize that the vision I had for my life had changed.  The things I thought I wanted no longer mattered.  It was as if I had finally woken up out of a dream or a state of unconsciousness.  Sure, my life was good, but I wanted it to be more.

I had to start asking myself what I really wanted out of my life.  When I died would I be happy with the choices I had made and had I taken enough risks and followed my dreams?  I knew unless I changed a lot of things the answer would be an unequivocal “NO!”

Sure, life was good.  Sure, life was fine.  Sure, life was meeting all of my basic needs.  But, was I hd I been letting other people and circumstances dictate my happiness, my journey and my direction.  This time the answer was an unequivocal, “YES”.

So, what do you do when you realize the course of your life has been on auto pilot and you not only want to change, but you need to change?  First, you start by reading and trying to figure out what your dream is and maybe what other people dream about.  I came across Jon’s post and naturally found it to be quite inspiring.  I thought to myself, “Carrie, if he can do it then so can you.”

Try this.  Take out a piece of paper and list out the things you want for your life and I don’t mean cars or houses or bags or shoes.  What feeds your soul?  What moves you as a human being?  What experiences do you want to have?  What type of relationships do you desire?  Do you desire adventure or comfort?

Then, sit down and try to figure out what you need to do to get to have those things.  Do you need to make a plan for finding a new job, go back to school, start putting away money into investment accounts, look into a new career, start playing music more, turn your hobby into a business, spend more time with your family and children?

The life you lead is your own and no one else can tell you what you need to be happy or what it will take for you to live your dreams.

For Jon, his dream was not so different than most of us.  We dream of financial freedom and not having to work for a boss who dictates our hours, our lives and our futures.  But, unlike Jon most of us are not burdened with massive amount of medical bills every day of every month for the rest of our lives.  So, if he can do it, why can’t you?

What You Need

Sometimes we all need a swift kick in the butt to remind us to keep moving forward, to stay positive, to believe in ourselves and to keep us stuck in our world of self-doubt.  Yesterday, Jon’s post came across my twitter feed on Problogger and it was exactly what I needed to hear (or should I say read).

Some days are harder than others and sometimes we start to wonder if the path we have taken is the right one or if we are doing enough to get where we need to go or if the universe is really listening when we say our prayers.  Yesterday I was listening and the universe answered me.  It said, “Keep going.  You can do this. Focus and don’t lose sight of where you are trying to go.  You will get there”.

Will this post be the swift kick you need?  What will it take for you to start living your dreams and start reaching your goals?  Even if you pick one little task to accomplish every day you are moving in the right direction.  Be content with where you are, but continue to strive for everything you have always wanted.

Think About It

I can only imagine what it would be like to be confined to a wheelchair with basically no physical abilities and to have to rely on someone else to take care of me.  You and I and most everyone reading this (with some exceptions) will never have to worry about this. Instead we sit around and complain about how much we don’t have or how that person doesn’t love us enough, or our kids are a pain or or no one loves us or we hate our boss.

Stop complaining.  Start doing.  Look inside.  Everything you need is contained within you. It isn’t outside of you.  Others cannot make you feel good or bad or happy or sad unless you let them.

What do you need to do to change your life?  What do you need to believe about yourself to start living your dream?  Be thankful every day that you wake up and have the ability to dream.  Be thankful every day, even if you think you don’t have much to be thankful for.

If you wake up and you think you don’t have anything to be thankful for, maybe you should go read Jon Morrow’s post again and think twice because if he can change his life then so can you.