A Mantra for Monday no.2

I love to dream, to slip off into my fantasy world where everything is possible and I can be whoever I want to be.  But, I forget that I can actually be whoever I want to be. It all within my own control...and your own control. This is easier said than done, I know, and believe me I suffer the same crises of confidence as everyone else!

The difference between dreaming and doing is often courage. Courage to face our fears, courage to go against expectation, courage to take the risk….. This links back to my previous post on being in charge of your own experiences.

I believe the bridge between impossible, improbable and inevitable is thinking it through and taking  the steps to make it happen. Something like this:

‘Impossible’: lots of thoughts and dreams swimming around your mind in their own little happy existence safe with no contextual reality.

‘Improbable’:  you refine your dreams and ideals through giving them a context in real life. It is still all in your head and there is still no commitment, but a greater sense of the logistics and meaning within your own life. You begin to ask yourself the deeper questions.

So far so good….all nice and simple….safe and comfortable.

The jump to the inevitable?  Commitment.

‘Inevitable’: for me, this involves making the change from mind to reality. Putting it out there for others to see and proclaiming your 'commitment'. This is not necessairly as scary as it sounds. Break it down and take small steps.

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• Talk through your ideas with a friend. Talking about an idea immediately makes it more real and also enables you to gain extra support through others.

• Sign up- join the club/society/dating website or whatever it might be. You don’t need to launch yourself into the scene right away but simply signing up gives you that initial boost and gives yourself physical proof that you are committed- plus once you’ve had a 'look around' is it really that scary?

• Write it down- sounds odd? I write all my thoughts down, in particular things I find overwhelming or confusing. I often find that simply through writing something down a greater sense of clarity is achieved naturally. You find the ability to answer your questions and justify your own reasoning in a logical way. Write when you are in a positive mindset and refer back to your notes when your confidence in yourself wavers.

There are many other ways that commitment can be manifested, but I just wanted to highlight that commitment isn’t a scary word and it isn’t the deal breaker it often seems to be. It is not finite and it doesn’t mean that there is ‘no going back’. It is simply a confirmation to yourself along the pathway towards your dream…so that it can soon become the inevitable.

What is a Mantra for Monday?

Note: Silent Sunday no. 2: January is often the coldest and bleakest month of the year (at least in the UK). A time at which the natural world lies dormant and lifeless awaiting the gentle awakening touch of spring. Without the transient magic of ice and snow, it is easy to forget and overlook the beauty of the elements at this time of year.  This photo was taken on a trip to Iceland some years ago, where the cold wintry conditions prevail and showcase the natural world in all its true glory.  This photo is one of my favourite all time photos. It's capture was pure luck. Shot with a very old and basic compact camera through the window of a bus as it whizzed past the icy landscape beyond, the ice drops on the bus window glistened and abstracted the blur of the landscape. Maybe that is why it means so much. Simple. Beautiful.