| You have dreams, don't you? Perhaps, as mine once | | | | are selling what they think, what they believe, and what |
| were, they have been obscured by time, hidden in the | | | | they think you should think. So, again, whether you are |
| dark recesses of your mind, or slumbering undisturbed | | | | or are not living your dream, you will be dealing with |
| in your heart. Have you forgotten them entirely? Or | | | | manipulation. Cut-off, cut-out, isolated. Heck, you've |
| occasionally, do they cross your mind, peek out from | | | | already done that to yourself--you've cut yourself off |
| their hiding places, making a timid leap in your bosom, | | | | from, out from and isolated from the very essence of |
| only to be hushed silent by you again and again. | | | | who you want to be. Two steps forward and one |
| There is something about the spirit of man that denies | | | | step back and you've made a little progress.... You'll |
| total unconsciousness. There is something about the | | | | only get closer by beginning. |
| spirit of man that defies stagnation. Fight as we may, | | | | The fear of insufficiency. Insufficiency of love. I |
| "You can't do that!" "You'd never achieve that!" "You're | | | | suggest that first one must love oneself and only then |
| too old now!" "You're not good enough, bright enough, | | | | can they give and receive love from others. If you |
| talented enough!" yet, we cannot hush the gentle | | | | haven't yet been kind enough, caring enough, loving |
| whispers that come in more quiet moments. They | | | | enough of yourself to allow yourself to follow your |
| vigilantly reappear like old friends, don't they? | | | | dreams, then truly you are living an illusion of |
| You've felt that surge of hope at times. Someone | | | | insufficiency. The illusion is that the love and the |
| taking time to believe in you, to remind you of your | | | | sufficiency doesn't begin or end out there. The magic |
| incredible worth. And, for a moment--a priceless | | | | is, it begins and ends with you. You have the power |
| moment in time--you believed, too. You smiled. You | | | | and total control to live outside the illusion and with the |
| closed your eyes. You imagined. You hoped. Your | | | | ultimate truth of sufficiency, abundance and love. |
| dreams came alive again and the world was your | | | | Take off your mask and look in the mirror. Really look. |
| oyster! And then you opened your eyes and your | | | | No! Don't turn away. Look. Now keep looking. Look for |
| smile faded, your vision vanished, your hope | | | | at least a minute. No glancing away. Hold your own |
| disappeared. | | | | gaze.... Who is that wonderful person in there? Ask. |
| Isn't it time to get off the merry-go-round? This is your | | | | Keep looking. Do this daily. Do it morning and night. |
| life! This is your moment! Every day is your "present" | | | | That's your very best friend in there. Your friend |
| to unwrap and receive. It belongs only to you, and you | | | | believes in you even when you don't. It hears all the |
| may do with it as you please. Do you want to be | | | | negative self-talk...You can't, you can't, you can't. And it |
| happy? Here is the secret: Smile and be happy. It is | | | | responds with: Yes, you can. Yes, you can. Yes, you |
| that simple. There is nothing you have to do! You can | | | | can. And your best friend will keep telling you that, |
| only receive from life that which you give to life! So, be | | | | even when you don't want to hear. Look again. There |
| happy! Smile. Be successful! Give of your abundance. | | | | you are. |
| Live your dreams! Dream bigger! Plan your work and | | | | Now you've got it. Now you're starting to believe. Hold |
| work your plan. So what if you fall short! If you aim for | | | | on to that. Put it in your pocket. Tuck it in your heart. Fill |
| the moon and miss, you still land among the stars! Be a | | | | your mind with it. Now get going. Plan your work. |
| star! | | | | Quick...what could you do with this feeling? How could |
| I decided to do just that in my own life. I took the risk | | | | you make today different from the rest. The day is |
| and believed I was worth it. I got out there and I'm still | | | | yours! It's all yours! It is your "present" and you've |
| out there. I am having the time of my life. No more, "I | | | | opened it. Now, what is it? What difference can you |
| wish I'd done this" or "I wish I'd done that." I'm doing it. I'm | | | | make in your own world today? |
| being it. I untied the life-line--that which I erroneously | | | | Is it a smile for someone sad? Is it a visit with |
| held as my "needs" and cast off and set sail. | | | | someone lonely? Is it a stop for donuts on the way for |
| Dark, threatening skies loomed at times, close calls | | | | the team? Is it a romantic phone call over lunch with |
| against rocky shoals, surging swells and thunderous | | | | your spouse? Is it a poem that's been drifting through |
| storms came and went. That is true still, but (and what | | | | your thoughts? Signing up for a class you'd like to |
| comes after but is the most important part of any | | | | take? Volunteering at school? The hospital? The |
| statement) also there are billowing sails full of wind to | | | | retirement home? Talking with a teen? Helping out a |
| travel onward, puffy white clouds to enchant and | | | | friend? Playing a game with the family? Reading your |
| inspire, warm gentle winds to caress and encourage, | | | | favorite book? Setting some new goals? Joining a |
| clear blue water to heal and refresh, breath-taking | | | | group? A memory to share? A story to tell? A lullaby |
| sunrises and sunsets to touch the soul, and, Oh! The | | | | or bedtime story? Taking time for yourself to think? To |
| stars! The stars of anticipated desire and destination! | | | | exercise? To meditate? To pray? To reflect? To |
| How dare I? Who do I think I am? Just what makes | | | | journal? |
| me think I am so special? I'll tell you what it was.... I | | | | You decide what difference believing in yourself will |
| listened finally. I listened to that still small voice. You | | | | make. You decide who you are, what you want to do |
| know, the one that kept coming back time and time | | | | and who you can become. You create it. There is no |
| again. The one that made me smile. The one that | | | | insufficiency. When you love yourself, you make all the |
| made me close my eyes and imagine. The one that | | | | difference in your world. And when you make a |
| gave me hope. The one that reminded me of my | | | | difference, that is called serving. How easy was that! |
| dream. The one that said, "The world is your oyster!" I | | | | You believed in yourself. You loved yourself. You |
| took that priceless moment and I listened. | | | | made a difference in your own world, and |
| Are you listening now? Do you have a dream? Think. | | | | consequently, you have made a difference in the |
| Think hard. Who was it you wanted to be? What did | | | | world and have served others. |
| you really want to do with your life? What kind of | | | | Serving is the by-product of love. It is love's synergy in |
| person did you want to be? What kind of personality | | | | action. Like a bumblebee doing the work of pollinating |
| did you want to have? What talents do you possess? | | | | flowers as it feeds on their nectar. Believing is the |
| Which ones did you yearn to develop? What do you | | | | nectar of love. Drink of this nectar and your cup will |
| like about yourself? What is it that other people see in | | | | overflow. You will love, you will make a difference, you |
| you? What is it they seek from you? That is who you | | | | will serve. Take time to listen to that voice, "Yes, you |
| really are. That is who you can become. Those are | | | | can. Yes, you can. Yes, you can." You really can! |
| your gifts. Those are your dreams. | | | | "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance |
| Time to take off the mask. Really. Haven't you been | | | | to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all |
| wearing it long enough? There is nothing to fear but | | | | acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary |
| fear itself. It comes in basically two forms, as I've | | | | truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and |
| learned it. Fear of defilement and fear of insufficient | | | | splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits |
| love. Defilement? Yes, fear of being contaminated, | | | | oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things |
| manipulated, cut-off, cut-out, isolated. That is the fear | | | | occur to help one that would never otherwise have |
| of being hurt. Then the fear of insufficient love. Really, | | | | occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the |
| that is just an extreme version of the fear of | | | | decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen |
| defilement. | | | | incidents and meetings and material assistance, which |
| So let's do a brief analysis, okay? Contaminated? | | | | no man could have dreamed would have come his |
| Hmmm. The option is hiding and quarantining ourselves. | | | | way."by William H. Murray (from his book "The Scottish |
| Not likely to happen whether we're living our dreams or | | | | Himalayan Expedition"): |
| someone else's. Manipulated? Now that's a strong | | | | And one of Goethe's couplets: |
| possibility. Why do I say that, you ask? Simply | | | | "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. |
| answered, everyone is a salesman...Everyone! They | | | | Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. |