Life is like
an ocean with the waves of different emotions and situations coming
and going. There are things that we want to happen in our lives. And
things that we'd rather keep moored to the shore.
2017 has,
for me, felt like it's started slowly. Yet there's already three
finished pieces of work ready to go and find new homes. The one that
I really want to work on has, for the moment, stalled. I've gone to
pick it up again only for road blocks to get in the way. Losing my
voice, cancellations, or a sudden back log of work mean that it's
been impossible to sit and talk to anyone.
So I decided
to see where else the ocean of life would take me. And, surprisingly,
it guided me to several pieces that I'd started last year and never
had the chance to finish. The road blocks were just that – minor
inconveniences that meant my mind could wander elsewhere for a while.
There may be
something that you want to happen in your life; a job change or
holiday, perhaps. You may find that getting to that point is a
struggle and that achieving that dream, no matter how small, is so
tantalisingly out of reach. You may feel like your fingers are
grazing the edges of your dream but, no matter how hard you try, you
just can't reel it in.
Telling
someone to let go of their dream feels like an awful thing to say. It
sounds as though you're telling that person that their dreams are not
worthy of being granted, that they don't deserve the happiness that
others enjoy.
You don't
have to let go. Instead, go with the ebb and flow of the world around
you. Keep working towards your dream, whether it's applying for a job
every week or putting away a little money towards your holiday.
Giving yourself in to the flow of the world can be hard. It can be a
struggle and you'll find yourself wanting to work on your dream 24/7.
But even doing a little a day is great. Seeds don't sprout overnight.
Great oaks don't suddenly go from an acorn to a fully matured tree in
an hour. In the same way, your dream may not happen overnight.
As someone
recently said to me, “Achieving your dreams is a marathon, not a
sprint. Take your time and enjoy the process.”
For me,
these quiet periods mean that, by the end of the year, I should have
several new projects ready to go out in to the world.
Relax, sit
back, and do what you can. Because you never know what's going to
happen two days, two months, or two years from now.