Part 2
Reality Check
There’s so much talk surrounding the subject of making our dreams a reality I often think of our mouths as black holes that have yet to be discovered by us, where we’re unknowingly spitting our dreams out further and further away from what’s real. Experts tell you to visualize what you want over and over in your mind, to speak about it like it’s already happening, to feel it so strongly in your bones it’s like it already exists…
Reality check- it doesn’t.
And it never will, if you’re thinking that if you only visualize more clearly, or speak with more conviction, or make yourself feel something more strongly your dreams will come true. All of those techniques, however helpful they may be, are just that- helpers. They are aids to the person that is hard at work. And unless you are hard at work, those helpers won’t do shit for you.
“Nothing will work unless you do.” -Maya Angelou
I talked about getting the van of my dreams more than I was working for it at first, and it was a challenge for me to be honest with myself and overcome my laziness when I could easily use my visualization and ability to feel things intensely as a counter-attack on my impending ego-check. Turns out, doing that on a regular basis made me feel like I was closer to my goals and working harder than I actually was, and as a result, my chances of getting the van stalled.
You can keep fooling yourself until you decide to get organized, then the truth is unavoidable. That’s why I mentioned organization in the first part of this series- because having your head in the clouds can be a dangerous thing if you don’t have anything to ground you.
I sat down one day at the coffee shop I usually write from and compared my time writing (working) to the time I spent on distractions like daydreaming about the van or talking to my friends that seemed to be endlessly walking in. Needless to say, I failed that test- and I came face to face with the realization that unless I redistributed time spent on certain habits, I was never getting behind the steering wheel of that van. That little exercise whooped my ass into shape real quick as the idea of remaining stagnant scared me way more than increasing my workload did.
“And then the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” -Anais Nin
To my surprise, the harder I work, and I mean really work, the more I enjoy the whole process. It’s a challenge for sure, no one’s lying when they say it’s hard. Some days, I get so close I’ve got my finger on the trigger and then life beats me to it. I’ll land on a van that’s barely within my reach and it’ll sell right out from under me, or I’ll take a random financial hit that’s out of my control, or, of course, have one (or two) of those days where my laziness rears its ugly head. But since getting my thoughts and actions organized at the coffee shop that day and cranking on my work, life in general seems more gratifying. I can prove to myself in real-time that I’m getting closer to the van, and that makes my celebratory beer at the end of the day taste way sweeter.
Now when I visualize, it looks more realistic. When I speak about where I’m at with the van, it’s hard truth instead of some manifestation practice. When I feel in my bones what I want, the feeling is way stronger than it was before because I know that the work I am doing is making it happen.
“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done. Make at least one definite move a day toward your goal.” -Bruce Lee
My point is this- the difference between dreams and reality is action, and it’s a lot easier to take action once you’ve gotten organized and committed to the things that need to change. It might seem like a lot of work and rightfully so- because it is. But once you catch a view of yourself higher up on the ladder, getting closer and closer to nabbing that dream and dragging it into reality, you’ll realize all the work has been more than worth it.
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by Alexa Francisco
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