The Dream of Fear
What is a dream? I don’t mean the dreams we have in our sleep, but the dreams we want for our lives. When you break it down, a dream is simply thoughts of something we do not yet have. I don’t necessarily mean a ‘thing’ but typically we dream of being somewhere, having someone in our lives, living a life of leisure etc… because they are things that we perhaps do not have in our lives at that moment.
Now, if we delve further into this idea of a dream we would find that we are simply envisioning something. Something that has not yet happened. Something we have not yet experienced. As children we dream of great and adventurous things. When we were young, our dreams have no limits, we dream of being heroes, of marrying princes, of living the life of storybooks and fairy-tales.
As adults our dreams have faded. Many dare not dream at all. Past failures haunt us, and the world around us is full of negative images and so we dream less and less until for some, our dreams become memories we never revisit.
Still, when taken at their most basic form, our Dreams (wishes, goals, call them what you will) are simply thoughts of things that have yet to happen.
So what is it that causes us as we grow up to lose sight of our Dreams? The answer is simple. Fear!
Often as a result of past failures, mixed with criticism, shaken by our environment of negativity (whether from the media, our friends and family or simply our surroundings), and finally set by observing others who have had similar Dreams but did not achieve them. And so we let Fear begin to set in our own lives and we begin to give up on our Dreams, watering them down to something more ‘realistic’ or achievable, and when that doesn’t transpire we water it down again and inevitably we find ourselves letting go of our Dreams in favor of the security of what we have, hoping we can hold on to it as Fear then begins to creep in and threaten to take even that away from us.
But what is Fear?
Is it not, in its most basic form, simply thoughts of things that have yet to happen?
Yes, I am in fact saying that there is little difference between Dreams and Fears when you break them down to their most basic components.
In fact, both have the ability to really affect our emotions. People can become really passionate about their Dreams and people can equally become really emotional about their Fears.
What does this all mean? James Allen, noted philosopher and author of “As a Man Thinketh” wrote:
“You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”
If we truly are the sum of our thoughts and if what we think about on a regular basis will determine what we achieve in life then I would suggest it is up to us to choose to think about and focus on Dreams instead of Fear.
Instead of spending our time, our thoughts, worrying about Fear (thinking about negative things that have not yet happened but might) let us instead focus on our Dreams (thinking about positive things that have not yet happened but might). Each can charge us emotionally, but one will impact our lives (and potentially those of others) in dramatically positive ways while the other serves only to help diminish our potential in life and perhaps those of others around us as well.
Choose to no longer dream the dream of Fear. Choose instead to focus the power of your mind on your true Dreams and aspirations, until you think of little else, and you will find yourself moving ever closer to realizing all that you desire and were born to become.
Photo credit: paul bica / Foter / CC BY
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