Analyzing a Dream

Instead of a relaxing three day weekend, I settled for a 2 day sort-of relaxing one. One strenuous hike and a bike ride later, I was wishing I had a full-time job again. Oh for those paid holidays!

But it must have been a lack of sleep. A severe lack of it. Because by Tuesday afternoon I was in dreamland.

Literally.

I was so exhausted that I took a nap during mid-day and woke up with the weirdest dream.

Weird Dream Alert!

I dreamed that I decided to go back to work as a therapist, taking 1-2 clients a day a week at $60 a session. The weirdest part was that the thought actually made me excited. It seemed to be the greatest idea I ever had yet. {Even better than the idea I had last night to eat an apple covered with peanut butter.}

Ever wake up feeling the remaining emotions of your last dream upon waking?

That’s how I felt. A lingering sense of excitement with a side of “what the heck was I dreaming” when I was fully awake.

I did the counseling thing. I did it and it was the hardest thing I ever did in my life. I cared deeply about my clients, but the anxiety and worry over if I was doing the right thing was too much for me. I am a weakling at heart. A sappy sap of a person. And so while I am passionate about helping others, I could never go back to that life.

Why am I telling you this?

My dream reminded me of where I was a few years ago. I was in in-between land, not quite where I wanted to be in life, but a little further out than I was before.

I was at a job I hated, but hated a little less than the last job.

The lure to keep on that path, taking higher paying jobs that left a bad taste in my mouth, was strong. Loved ones made the temptations even greater. At the time, I felt like the only one who didn’t where I was going. I had been on the path for a decade while I still was twiddling my thumbs waiting for the sky to fall on my life.

It was not a pretty picture.

But surprisingly, once I was courageous enough to take a different path in my life, make decisions that were scary, but felt closer to my true self, things started happening. When I was ready, my world began to change.

• I started hearing about writing jobs from acquaintances and started seeing more jobs online.
• I got offered positions that fit what I was looking for.
• I met people who were on the same journey as me.

And I’m not just talking about my career.

Every time I decide to do something different-change my attitude when I’m disappointed, decide to have a good day regardless of how bad it’s supposed to be-I am rewarded in miraculous ways.

If you’re ready for something new in your life. Decide to take control of your life by changing yourself. Eventually like ripples in the ocean, that positive change will come back to you. It may come to you in dreams come true, in an insight you hadn’t realized before, in the new people you are about to meet.

You don’t need a new program or a book to change your life, you just need to be open to the gifts already in store for you.

I’m pretty sure that my dream was reminding me how far I’ve come and not to look back. Onward my dear friends!