“Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for stars.”
― Casey Kasem
Dream Big
To be human is to dream. We all have hopes and wants for ourselves. Sometimes these dreams may be simple, and other times these dreams can be really big. Some hope for grand fortunes while others dream of a day when they no longer have a bad habit. Keep dreaming. Reach for those stars and then reach for some more.
Be Realistic
While reaching for the stars it is important to keep reality in check. Some stars are not meant for us, and are beyond our reach. Some of those stars may need steps to get to them. If the dream is to make it rich the realistic way to approach making this dream come true is to start with a plan.
Start the plan with things that can be done right now, which means reaching for the immediate goal in the here and now. This can be accomplished by making a budget with a set amount of money to save on each payday. This may be a slow way to make it rich, but it is a much better step toward the goal than the one that was in place yesterday. Yesterday it was a dream. Today, strides are made toward making those dreams come true.
Be Mindful
Mindfulness is simply learning to live in the moment. By living in the moment we learn to enjoy even the smallest things in life. The idea is to pay close attention to everything that is going on in the surrounding environment without interpreting it. This means that we do not allow our emotions to surface as we are observing life. At first, this is difficult as we tend to allow past events and emotions to guide our thoughts on a day to day basis, but with a bit of focus it becomes easier to leave those things in the past and live in the present.
This does not mean that when we stop allowing emotions to run us that we will become detached and cold. By living in the moment we are learning to use cognitive reappraisal, which means we are allowing our brains the chance to scope out the situation that is really happening instead of letting our memory banks decide how to feel about the situation.
By using mindfulness techniques, we are able to keep our feet grounded in reality, which will help guide us to the stars that we desire. Many people find that when they use mindfulness techniques the dreams that they once had changed, and they are able to see what it is they really do want in this life.
Dream or Not to Dream
Some people have problems taming their imagination. This type of person will often get frustrated when the big dreams they have do not seem to happen. When frustration sets in they will usually toss that dream to the side, and let their imagination conjure up another big, impossible dream. Other people have problems with allowing themselves to dream at all. It takes the middle road between the two to make real dreams come true.
Allowing ourselves to dream and to hope makes this life worth living, but be sure to keep a mindful check on how big those dreams can be. We cannot dream of becoming a giant butterfly if we were never a caterpillar. If a person does not take the steps toward a dream it will never become reality either. So have dreams, and dream big, but make sure there are steps to reach those dreams.
Featured photo credit: Photograph courtesy of Quote Addicts via quoteaddicts.com
