Saving Your Dream

Thirty Minutes That Will Save Your Dream
by Suzanne Falter-Barns
www.getknownnow.com

If you've got a dream you're intent on pursuing, chances are you're going to bog
down at some point. That's just the way dreams are. In fact, there's a little known
rule about this called the Second Rule of Thermodynamics, which states that sooner
or later everything returns to chaos.

In other words, expect your dream to come crashing down around your ears
periodically.

Yet, no need to despair; such meltdowns are actually good for your dream, because
they force you to stop and rethink your approach if you want to continue. That's the
only way you can find the footing to continue, and in that process, you're forced to
learn and grow. This is when I always pull out my trusty guided visualizations.
Nothing, but nothing, can turn your mind around quite as effectively as a good
guided visualization. It can create hope where there was none, clarity in a space of
confusion, and immeasurable inspiration. If you subscribe to the same notion that I
do – that all of our ideas and instincts around our dream are guided – then this is
where you'll find the mother lode of such information. A good guided visualization
will connect you with deep inner truths that most of us simply can't tap into
consciously.

So basically, you, too, can be a Ghandi or a Nelson Mandela or a Thich Nacht Hahn …
if you dig deep enough and surrender fully enough. (Those enlightened souls have
taught us that such round-the-clock access to the spiritual goods requires one heck
of a lot of meditation, not to mention a saintly obfuscation of the ego.) In the
meanwhile, the next best thing is to turn on the guided visualizations.

By guided visualization, I mean a recording of someone leading you through a
meditation. First they relax you; then they help you imagine yourself in a particular
place, or having a certain experience. A great guided visualization will lead you into situations where anything can happen and anyone can show up. You simply sit back
and observe as helpers show up, insights are gained, and instructions are received.
Sometimes the path you see is a familiar one you've imagined often with your
conscious mind, and the meditation serves as a wonderful confirmation of your plan.
Yet, other times it can be strange and dark, making no sense whatsoever. My own
students have come to me with alarm when they saw a picture of chaos, or violence
and degradation. And yet, in talking it over later, they usually recognize a deeper
meaning to the picture. Over time, if they repeat the process, they are often left with a greater insight than they anticipated.

For instance, Rosemary was a frustrated writer who hated her daytime job, and was
given to fits of gallows humor about it. When she first did my Discover Your Soul
Purpose meditation, she uncovered a chaotic back alley, full of lurking, menacing
figures. She did the meditation several more times and the situation only marginally
improved. Yet, what Rosemary took away from the experience was that her life was
out of balance, and filled with dark, negative energy. She quit her job, attended to
her failing health, and re-approached the meditation some months later. Now the
scene was remarkably different, a sunny courtyard in which she could see herself as
a writer for the first time.

In fact, Rosemary had not ‘done the meditation wrong', as she'd been quick to
assume. ("I must be the only person who didn't do this thing right!") Instead, her
soul was giving her a direct signal that she was tangled up in life circumstances that were obscuring her dream. The meditation, for all of its supposed lack of clarity, had really been clear as a bell.

The only real way to interpret the images we get in these visualizations is to check in with our gut. There may be age-old gypsy wisdom that water means good luck, or
that a duck is an omen of impending death … but I say that's all poppycock. The
only person who knows what your visualization means is you; your gut is the only thing that should ever guide your interpretation. What is it telling you about
what you saw -- that you need balance, like the confused Rosemary? Or that you
need courage? Could it be that you simply don't want to admit that what you saw is
actually true?

Often we get images of ourselves leading such a life of power and abundance that we
can barely stand it. It brings tears to our eyes as we acknowledge that we really can
do that thing we sorely wish to begin. In that instant, we see how small and
constrained we've allowed ourselves to become; yet, we also see how much impact
we could have, if only we could choose the right path.

Above all, guided visualizations give us permission to dream. They allow us to see
ourselves graphically living a different life, feeling the feelings, smelling the smells, and owning the power. We see a higher, truer aspect of ourselves, and in that
instant, understand how unstoppable we really can be.

This is the biggest reason I rely on guided visualizations in my work – because they
take you beyond the sugary platitudes about ‘going for it' and ‘reaching for the
stars'. Instead, they deliver you smack into your dream for a moment, so you can
see the impact and importance of what you're here to do.

Once you really know the true rightness of what that feels like, down deep in your
gut, nothing can keep from making that vision a reality. Even if the images you see
are more fleeting or obscure, they will leave you brushed with truth. This is the
wisdom that lurks in our bones; wisdom we can access simply by taking the time to
turn on a visualization.

Learn more about guided visualizations at http://www.howmuchjoy.com/soulpurpose.html

©2005 Suzanne Falter-Barns.. www.howmuchjoy.com & www.getknownnow.com
For information on how to find the time, energy, money to live your purpose in life,
download Suzanne’s free workbook, The Living Your Joy Companion Workbook
And get a daily blast of joyful tips from the Blast o’ Joy blog at www.blastojoy.com

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Here's to keeping your dream alive!!

Fran