“Dreams don’t have to stop because something got in the way.” –– S.C.
I’ve forever been a dreamer. And I’ve learned to never quit on my dreams.
Some of my biggest dreams were interrupted by events that got in the way––ones that I could have never imagined! When I think about my dreams, I realize that many of the most important dreams had to wait for various reasons, many include very unpleasant situations and circumstances.
Yet, these times of interruptions often served as points of clarity for me. A kind of birthing period that needed to occur to accomplish my dreams at the right time when I had the skills I needed, and even helped me to clarify my dream’s original vision. But I never let these interruptions discourage me. I simply allowed the universe to bring their fulfillment in its timing, not mine. Never replacing one dream with another, I always keep on dreaming.
It’s easy to say, I realize, to never give up on your dream.
Especially when some interruptions are more frustrating or even humiliating than others considering the point in time that your dream has been interrupted. For instance, when the interruption comes after years, even decades of hard work, and happens in the home stretch just when you thought you’d had it completed. The sadness that arises can be equally difficult to combat when you have just launched your dream, and everything goes sideways right at the beginning, like the failure of a new restaurant or new business.
However, no matter when the interruption comes, it is essential that we don’t take the timing or circumstances personally. There is simply a lesson to be learned. If we can instead of focusing our energies on our frustrations to learning what we might do differently, we will find the wisdom that can be mined to see the dream to its completion.
I have personally found that dreams can be revived when you put your heart and soul into their accomplishment. This occurs best when I am better able to respond to the interruption instead of reacting and shut down. In this way, I have found new ways to accomplish my dreams that have been more consistent with my values and therefore more meaningful to me.
Even though I am still pursuing and achieving the dreams of my childhood, I believe it’s important to never give up for any reason––don’t give any energy to the interruption. Instead, focus on the bridge you might build to get to the other side. In my experience, there is always a way. It might not come to you in a day or a week, but if you merely put the awareness that the dream will come true in a way you can’t imagine now, you will be open to possibilities you never thought possible previously.
I have learned the wisdom of only letting go of what I don’t want anymore, or what I no longer need. After all, dreams do change.
There’s no better feeling than seeing your dreams come true. And the ones that are the sweetest are dreams interrupted, especially those that caused you to wait a very long time.