The Dream You Live

One person working toward a dream is worth 99 people just working.—Lani Kraus

I used to conduct a social experiment with my married friends, the ones who had children and were relatively happy with their lives even though they had health or financial concerns or other daily issues that many of us face to one degree or another.

Inevitably, when I would ask these women “What do you want for you life?” they would say they wanted:

Their spouse to get a promotion/raise/business success.
To have their children do well in school.
To see their children grown and happy.

Never, not once, did I hear an answer to my question. I didn’t ask my friends what they wanted for their husbands and/or their children. I asked them what they wanted for themselves. So I would say, “I asked you want you wanted for YOUR life. So what do you want?”

They would look at me with a blank stare, unable to express even a single selfish wish for themselves.

So many people right now are facing the fear of layoffs, unemployment, and struggling in an economy where banks, newspapers, and even entire nations are declaring bankruptcy and shutting down.

I am trying to focus on this time in our world as a shift in opportunity. With the financial rug ripped out from beneath our feet, we are all free falling into something new. Now is a time to assess and consider the gifts we each have, to consider our heart’s true and deepest desire, and how we might best live out our calling.

Now, as the year closes, is a perfect time to sit down with a pen and paper and think about your natural talents and how they can best serve yourself, your family, and your community. Begin here, now, to taste the sweetness of living within your calling and embracing your essential self. Start small and allow new opportunities to respond to your openness for bigger ways to find your fulfillment. Yes, it is a scary time. It is also a time of wondrous opportunity.

It’s also not a bad idea to go ahead and update the résumé, just in case.