Stop for a second and think about what you want most. It could be worldly or ethereal, it doesn’t matter.
And to be clear, I mean the first idea that came to mind. Don’t skip over it because you feel ashamed or guilty or undeserving. Don’t sugar coat it within your own mind.
Think about that one idea. Are you working toward it?
Say you are looking for love. You can’t magically make who you’re looking for cross your path. You can only control your own actions. So are you going out, are you trying new things, bettering yourself, becoming even more awesome and irresistible every day?
Say you are looking to escape your cubicle. Where do you want to escape to? You can’t just leave something you don’t like, you need to know what to replace it with. (This also goes for those who are looking to retire.)
Say you are looking to travel. Are you saving money? Are you developing a plan? Do you even know where you want to go?
Say you are looking to be a successful artist. Say you are looking to be president. Say you are looking to change your name, your place, your identity?
How badly do you want it?
What are you doing to work toward it? What are you willing to do to get it?
What are you wiling to give up in order to get it? Do you even know what you’d have to give up? Have you thought about it?
If you’re not working toward it, if it’s just a daydream, an idea that pops up and then goes nowhere, then you don’t want it badly enough. And that’s fine, as long as you accept it. Then you can stop, and move onto something else.
Does anyone know? Have you told anyone? Is there anyone you can trust with this? Verbalization of an idea can help it coalesce into something more. And that’s what you want, isn’t it?
You can choose to keep your idea as just that. What you can’t do, then, is lament how your idea hasn’t come into being. You are responsible for your words and actions.
Yes, you must respond to your individual situation, but your situation is just that, and not you. You are more than the sum of your surroundings. You are more than where you are at the moment.
So ask yourself, how badly do you want it?
3 Comments
Nicole
great post! i struggle with daydreams versus actively working toward something. i know i am capable and have successfully reached big goals in my life, but i am also really good at daydreaming; it has been a specialty of mine since childhood 🙂
Mike
Hi Nicole. Thanks! Well, I wouldn’t want you to give up your daydreaming; I think most people (myself included) don’t do enough of that!
I think for true satisfaction we need to allocate space for everything. It can’t be all work, but it can’t be all play either.
I’m working through the book Daily Rituals by Mason Currey right now, because I for one am still trying to find the right balance (so it’s cool to see how others have found their own).
Nicole
that’s true; i think daydreaming can be valuable…all about balance, right? 🙂 and i was just reading that book too! my hold finally came in at the library after we talked about it all those months ago. i had to return it before i finished it, but it was a quick interesting read (got about halfway through) and will probably read the rest at some point. some of those early writers and artists sure did drink a lot!