Dream Chronicles: Chasing My Dreams
When I started writing my first book, Drome[1] Chronicles, Volume I, I was thinking about my great grandmother Abigail Brown and the generations of daughters that she produced. Abigail was a dream interpreter. Don’t laugh…Don’t write it off. She really could look into the dreams of others and explained what they possibly meant for the future. Very few people can do this. I believe that we, in this new millennium, no longer possess the ability to read others dreams; but we have also forgotten how to dream for ourselves. We start in kindergarten and follow a monotonous path towards college and a career because that is what the world has told us to do. But when we were small, we had dreams! It started when we slept. Things formed in our mind while we slept. Super fantastic ideas! But when we woke up we forgot our dreams. As a matter of fact, that is actually how doctors and scientists know that you have gone into REM sleep (the good sleep where your body actually rests and repairs itself). They say, if you remember all of your dreams that you didn’t go into REM sleep and that you probably didn’t get a good night’s rest. But what happens to the dreams we forget? What happens to the dreams we place on the backburner? Or the ones that never fully form because we become adults and start drinking and taking drugs and fall into deeper levels on unconsciousness where our dreams can’t fully surface again. We look up and we are stuck in boring jobs, living boring lives, wondering what happened. How did we get here? But I finally decided, after writing about my family in a fictitious world that needs dreams to survive, that I actually needed my dreams to survive. I needed to remember the dreams that I had and bring them to fruition. It has taken me several years to plan this out. It took time for me to pull on every resource that I have ever possessed. But I am finally able to Chase my Dreams! There are four things that I felt compelled to focus on when I started this journey: My Purpose, My Passion, My Family, and My Labor. As adults, we have to realize that we aren’t kids anymore. That was hard for me. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a mega-Peter Pan complex…or maybe even Toys-R-Us Syndrome: I Don’t Wanna Grow Up! But growing up is inevitable. Maybe that’s what they should be teaching in the schools instead of force feeding college and careers that some kids aren’t ready for? Teach us that growing up is inevitable; but following your dreams is attainable! You see, I was never actually taught that I had a specific Purpose: A reason the Creator placed me on this Earth. A reason that I didn’t die when I tried so desperately to do so. A reason that I didn’t go to jail when I made all those dumb decisions. A reason that I kept getting saved when I thought I didn’t deserve it (and probably didn’t). It was because I was supposed to be here. I was supposed to do “something.” Unfortunately, the world told me I was supposed to go to school and get a job. But that wasn’t actually the Creator’s purpose. The things I went to school for initially had nothing to do with the Creator’s purpose. See, the Creator’s purpose was far simpler. The Creator’s purpose for me was simply to work with teenagers. That’s what I’m good at. I speak teenagese. Do you know your Purpose? I bet you thought it was at your job. But it might not be. It may have something to do with your job, but quite possibly your job may not be the only way you can fulfill your purpose. I went to school to be a lawyer…but I became a teacher. They had nothing to do with each other. But the Creator knew better than me. Thank goodness. I always loved drawing and writing, but who has time to do that when you are trying to go to college and you are working 40 hours a week. Guess what? School is a 40 hour a week job. Did you know that? We start sending our kids to work at the ripe age of 5 in the United States. Getting them ready for that 40 hour a week job. And very quickly, they don’t have time for their Passion. Writing and Drawing is my Passion. I am an artist! Ha! I didn’t even know that until 4 years ago (and I’m almost 40!). I’m not trained. I didn’t take a lot of art classes. But I love to paint and I love to write and I can honestly say that I’m not too bad at it. It comes with ease. Because guess what? This is my gift from the Creator. I have been blessed to be able to do this to relax and enjoy myself. To help me find peace. AND my Passion has started to align with my Purpose. The teenagers that I have connected with have started to read my work and find meaning. And Voilà! My Passion and my Purpose have started to come together. But I continued to struggle in my life because My Family was suffering. With my job as an educator, there were several issues:
This May (2017), I left the profession that found me many years ago when I wasn’t even looking. I decided to quit being a teacher. So many people (students, parents, family, and friends) have questioned my decision. They have validated my belief that teaching young people is truly what the Creator intended for me to do. But this was the only way I could follow my Dreams! I realized that being a classroom teacher wasn’t the only way I could work with young people. Following your Dreams is what the Creator really intended for his children. Not to be bored, or sad. Not to feel worn down by the day to day activities of life. For my Labor (the way I make money), the Creator has given me the greatest opportunity of a life time. The Creator said: “Step out on Faith and Follow ME.” Faith is not tangible. You can’t see it. You can’t touch it. You have to believe that what you are doing is the right thing, and you have to follow it. I resigned from my position at 7:00 am on a Monday, by noon that day I had a new offer that will allow me to work with teenagers in a less restrictive manner; but it will give me time to be with my family as well and I will be able to make decent money at the same time. I will be able to teach writing to those students and help them see their true potential. I believe that as long as I am helping young people (My Purpose) that the Creator will keep my Labor growing faster and stronger than it ever was when I settled for being a teacher. Because ultimately, I am a teacher by calling not by job. I believe that if I am writing and painting (My Passion), the Creator will provide me with happiness and peace when I can’t find it on this planet; and when I least expect it he will align it to my Purpose. And finally, by following the Creator’s design, My Family will have a Mommy who is present and not tired all the time. A Mommy who can give her all. My friends will have their friend back to answer the phone when they call. And my Labor will be provided through the works of my Purpose and my Passion! What is your Purpose, your Passion, and your Labor? Are they aligned? Do they allow you time for your Family and Friends? That’s what life is for: Having peace on this Earth! And if we don’t Dream big, remember our Dreams, and chase them vigorously…we will be lost. These are my chronicles: My Dream Chronicles. Be blessed and prosper! [1] Drome: Dream in Afrikaan
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June 2017
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