Bursting your Bubble: Big Dreams

When we were young we had this idea of life and what we would be doing. Then we grow up and life hits us like a car without lights at night. We wake up dazed and confused.....

“The most important things it to enjoy your life - to be happy - it's all that matter ~ Audrey Hepburn

Dream Big with a Plan

Life is a chaotic journey with winding roads and several side trails. Sometimes we get lost, find a new path or create a new one. I can honestly say I did not see my life being where it is today. While yes there were many blessings along the way there was also a lot of hurt, damage and pain that I felt the need to pack away in my backpack and carry with me. That extra load made me take different paths, ones I thought were shorter or easier. However, they all lead me back to the fork in the road, where I need to say OK stop and think before you choose your next path.

As children our life seemed so easy to plan out, meet your love, get married have kids and live in this big fancy house on a hill with a white picket fence. Well, not to burst anyone’s bubbles but that doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes we forget the little things we need to do to get that dream and then as we grow that dream changes. Growth and maturity make you see other dreams, other realities that you weren’t privy too as a child. Sometimes they aren’t the big dreams either, yet smaller ones that fulfill you or even repair you.

I spent most of my adulthood raising children, so my dreams of being a mom started about 10 years sooner than expected. OK, no worries I go this I said to myself at age 18 after choosing to be a mom over college. Then life happened, I had to work, raise child and do for the immediate future not thinking long term. I was stuck on a merry go round where I couldn’t see the future let alone think far enough ahead to plan for it. Oh, and in case you hadn’t noticed we never put making mistakes in our equation for the prefect future as children.

So, with mistakes and decisions come consequences that we must accept and redirect our plans. I had a career most of my adulthood but not the one I had planned out as a teenager. I wanted to be an artist work in mediums of photography and advertising. I ended up selling insurance because it paid the bills. While it was a good job it was not one that fulfilled me or made me excited to get up and sell come auto insurance to someone. Yet, I did it collected my check and raised my kids. I put off any dreams or goals for a career or future that I wanted because I was so wrapped up in making sure my kids had.

Then, I started becoming an empty-nester. One child left; no worries still had two more at home. The second one left and she left big, she went off into the military and that brought more emotions that I was ever prepared for. Bring on the mini mid-life crisis, you know that moment you wake up and think what am I doing and make some drastic change. I quit my job and enrolled in culinary school.

I loved it and found a passion in me I had forgotten existed. I embraced this change and fought tooth and nail to make my new dream work. Fast-forward two years later, lost my car, lost my place to live and well my catering business was barely making ends meet. I was forced back into insurance reluctantly in order to survive financially. I was not happy, but it was what I needed to do. I was discouraged and once again lost the idea of dreaming big.

This is where your bubble gets burst, dreaming big is amazing and I highly suggest it to everyone, but you must understand the reality of it. Dreaming big requires you to think big, think outside the box and go for your heart’s passion for self-fulfillment but, always have at least two back up plans. Because, you will in fact fail – apparently from what I read you must fail in order to succeed – I am trying to grasp that concept and not lose sight of my dream. Not only was my bubble burst and dreams deflated, I lost sight of blowing new bubbles. I was afraid to dream big, afraid my bubble would pop again. I became the statistical dreamer whose dreams never grow to fruition because I was afraid.

I have many friends on social media who are living their dreams or attempting them and that gives me drive to pursue mine. I cannot let fear overtake my dreams and allow me to stay stagnant. I am in a place where my job does not give me fulfillment and quite honestly is a bit toxic. So, I must regroup, plan, and have a back up plan. I have found writing helps me process and focus my thoughts and feelings. I suppose I am blessed to have this talent. We all need to find our talent and use it for the greater good of our sanity.

I believe everyone should always have dreams and goals that make us happy. If we are not happy, we find ourselves being unfulfilled and unsatisfied always seeking more in every aspect of our life. So today write down a list of dreams, desires or a bucket list. Then write the pros and cons to seeking to fulfill them followed by a plan if you could attempt them. This will help give you direction in achieving them with a realistic outlook. I am completing mine now and will share on here later today. I will post this on social media and hope to see your lists as well. Lets empower each other with big dreams!