How to make your dreams come true
When’s the last time your dream came true?
Has your dream ever come true?
Or, maybe more to the point, have you ever really done what it took to make a cherished dream to come true?
I recently bought the reconditioned Shelby Mustang of shredders. I have become a shredding maniac. Instead of making me feel nostalgic for days gone by, it has felt wonderful to shred paper memories that no longer serve me. I’ve been diligently shredding away the old to bring in the new.
And then I came across the envelope that stopped my shreddathon.
It had been mailed from Kansas City on August 4, 1998. First class stamps cost 32 cents in 1998. I received it a few days before my life was turned upside down. I’ve kept it as a reminder of what’s possible.
A lovely woman named Sarah had mailed the envelope to me. Sarah had attended the lecture I’d presented two months earlier for her calligraphy guild and wanted to send me a thank you and some photos. The photos are now stuck together, and I obliterated part of the note by attempting to peel it away from the photos.
Sarah thought she was sending a thank you. Sarah was a messenger from God. I tracked her down after reading her note and viewing the back of her envelope. We kept a phone friendship until she died from the cancer that was weakening her body but never her spirit. She was inspiring. She was a great teacher. She’s a big reason why I do the work I now do.
In 1998, I was known in the international calligraphy community for presenting a lecture called “The Up Side of Screwing Up.” I’d been one of those perfectionists who needed to understand that mistakes can be really, really good for us. I’d approached calligraphers from around the world, asking them to send me slides of artwork that turned out better because something had gone wrong during its creation.
The artwork was great, and the stories were great. Cats had walked across fresh ink, creating subtle patterns the scribes hadn’t considered. Finished pieces had been knocked into filled bathtubs, beautifully muting the colors. I shared the story of how the very last piece of the paste paper I’d made, after making writing mistakes on dozens of other sheets of handmade paste paper, turned out to subtly echo the message in the piece I exhibited in the faculty show at the 1993 international lettering arts conference.
I loved presenting the program, and most of the people in my various audiences across North America loved watching it. Sarah loved it, too. She said many nice things about the program before she ended the part of the note I can still read by writing: “Take care. Enjoy your journey. So glad you had this vision and stayed with your dream.”
I was held captive and raped less than a week after receiving her note.
My health, my work, my peace of mind, my life destroyed. Just like that. My new life, the life I am currently living, grew from the ashes of my old life. It was time for me to have a new dream.
My new life slowly took shape when I took to heart the message she’d written on the back of the envelope:
“Don’t postpone joy.”
I loved living that artist’s dream, and I am loving living this new dream. I am now a Love of Life Catalyst. I help a lot of people light up their lives by finding their joy, no matter what else is going on in their lives. Through helping other people find their joy, I find my joy and stay with my dream.
Helping others is my joy. Sharing love is my joy. Living from my passion is my joy. The more I live from my joy, the more my life expands.
I have learned that postponing joy is postponing life. I have learned that postponing love is postponing life. I have learned that postponing staying with our dreams is postponing life. And I have learned, after decades of surviving multiple traumas that would have killed many others, that this moment is all we have.
Do you have a dream? Good! Do what you can do today to start to make your dream come true. Take that bold step. Make that phone call. Write that email. Shatter your defenses so you can speak from your heart. Move your fears to the side. Commit to finding what you need, either inside or outside of you, to manifest your dream.
Sarah knew what she was talking about. She lived much longer than her doctors thought she would because she didn’t postpone joy. And she taught me to do what she did. I don’t postpone joy, and I stay with my dream.
I’m now sharing her message with you. I invite you to take her message and run with it.
Don’t postpone joy. Stay with your dream.
Did reading this blog light you up? Good! I invite you to visit www.TransformingThroughLove.com and learn about the professional services I offer. Let’s schedule a free consult to see if we’re a match for each other.
Copyright 2016 by Sheryl Hirsch-Kramer. All rights for any further use reserved. For permission to repost or reuse the above only in its entirety, fill out this form: http://www.transformingthroughlove.com/contact/ The information presented at www.TransformingThroughLove.com and during coaching sessions is of a general nature and is not intended to be use as legal, medical or professional advice. None of the information on this website is intended as a substitute for the counsel of a qualified doctor/physician, nurse, pharmacist, or other trusted health professional. Always contact your own health care provider to assist you with your medical or health issues. The information presented here is only meant to support you while you are being cared for by your own health care provider during your life’s journey. It is not intended to be used as stand alone legal, medical or professional advice. We cannot and will not take any responsibility for the results or consequences of any attempt to use or adopt any of the information presented on this web site as legal, medical, or professional advice.Always consult your physician or trusted health professional to design a treatment plan for your own or for someone else’s wellness. All the information on this website is intended solely as loving support intended to accompany traditional medical care, not as stand-alone advice. We appreciate your donations; please send a message via the contact form for donation instructions.If you like what you’re reading here, please forward this website to a friend: http://www.transformingthroughlove.com.
