One of the first starting points to follow our dreams is to stop dreaming.
Yes, stop daydreaming about what you’d love to do, or who you would love to be and start giving small steps towards achieving your goals.
A long road is made of little steps, so no matter how small your efforts may seem to be… they’re leading you on the path to achieve what you want.
You’ve heard about this too many times but it never really hit you till you faced a loss, either of a loved one or a door was shut on your face and you were forced to realize how fragile life is and how everything can change in a second. Yes, life is very short and none of us knows how much time we have on this beautiful earth, so start living now. Focus on the now is one of the most important things you have to do.
Your future starts right now. Everything you’ll have and achieve in your future, will be a consequence of the steps you took today. The most powerful moment of your life, is the moment of now.
BECAUSE YOU ARE THE MASTER OF YOUR OWN DESTINY
Although many people and circumstances do interfere with your life, ultimately, you have always a choice. A choice on how you handle a problem, the people you surround yourself with and what you decide to do with the circumstances you have. Positive and negative things that happen in your life were directly or indirectly attracted by the way you lead your life..
I know it’s not always easy to take credit for the negative things that happen in our lives, but ultimately, if we take responsibility over our acts and choices, we will stop playing the victim game and take over our life once and for all. If you don’t like a certain person, then cut contact with her. If you don’t like being pressured by your family, then let them know you’re not following their orders. If you don’t like your job, start slowly searching for something else. If you’d like to see yourself surrounded by different type of people, then start finding ways of entering in that network and associate with them. The moment you realize how much power you have over the outcomes in your life, your life will shift.
BECAUSE THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS FAILURE
Many people live a life of frustration, trapped in fear because they’re too scared of failing. Because failing is not an option, they don’t dare to risk and try something new. But… what if the outcome of a new adventure was not failure at all? What if it would have succeed but, you never dared to try?
And what is failure? The results are not what you hoped for? They’re falling shorter of what you dreamed of? Is that really failure?
The most successful people in the world are not the ones who never failed, but the ones who don’t bend down to a challenge, no mater how many times things have gone wrong. Successful people are the ones who are persistent, who will try it over and over till they get things done. Don’t forget some of the greatest advances in history and science are a by-product of “failure”.
NO TIME FOR REGRETS
Regrets are usually associated with a disconnection towards the important things of life.. A palliative nurse once gathered the top 5 answers of her dying patients, during their last weeks of their lives: ”what are the things you regret the most in your life? All of them, with no exception, regretted 5 things they didn’t do. When I look back in my life I feel the same, I regret not having done a lot of things that were important to me, because of fear or insecurity. I will never know what how my life would have turned out if I would have dared to follow my dreams.
GROWTH HAPPENS WHEN YOU LEAVE YOUR COMFORT ZONE
Grown can only come from out of the comfort zone and not from a automatic, almost robot like routine. Every time you try something new, you’ll be exposed to a whole new world of feelings, desires and challenges. Every time you meet new people, you’ll learn more about them but also about yourself. Trying something scary will push your buttons and make you feel proud of your abilities. Routine destroys friendships, marriages and life turns into ray of grey shades. You don’t need to quit your job to go on a mad hiking trip to the Himalayas (or maybe that’s what you need, but that’s another story!), trying new foods, a new language, start a new activity can be a gentle way of having something exciting to talk about, by the end of the day.
HAPPINESS IS A MAGNET
Happy people thrive and everything seems to work out for them, it’s a fact. Happiness is a magnet, it attracts people, opens doors to new opportunities. When you’re happy you tend to see the world with a positive attitude, focus on the good things of life and see the bad things as a challenge, not a disaster. When you pursue your dreams and you do what you love, happiness happens automatically and destiny will conspire on your favor.
BECAUSE YOUR LIFE IS YOUR LIFE
Your life is your life, not your families life, not your husband or wife’s life… They have to live their dreams and you have to follow your passions. There are many pressures to please others or people who to try to live their dreams through you. This is not fair. This puts you in a position of a spectator and not of the main character on your own life. Be polite but firm when telling other people that although you love them dearly, you can’t do what they want.
 | Written on 2/23/2014 by Yara Ceolho. Yara Coelho, passionate for vegetarian food and creator of the travel blog Heart of a vagabond. She exchanged the comforts of home 16 years ago for a life on the road. She has been traveling the world mixing a love for alternative living, and low-impact traveling. |
