Take Back Your Life!

“You must go after your wish. As soon as you start to pursue a dream, your life wakes up and everything has meaning.” ~ Barbara Sher

Can you imagine a world where no one ever had a dream to achieve something great?

Most of what you see wouldn’t even exist.

Recently, I rewatched Flash Dance, an 1983 movie that got panned by critics but went on to be loved by the people, making it the third highest grossing film in 1983. When I first watched it I was enamored with the dancing. This time I was enamored with Alex’s dream process.

A welder by day, dancer in a club by night, Alex had a dream to attend the prestigious Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory. But didn’t really have the guts to apply, worried by her lack of formal training. Her boss turned boyfriend reads her the riot act when she whines about not being good enough to apply to the program.

“When you give up your dreams, you die, ” he says and walks away.

That riles her up to apply and, of course, she does the most amazing emotionally pumped up audition in the history of auditions. It’s so good, I’m not sure she even needs to attend the school anymore, but as the film fades to black, I presume she gets in and does.

We all seem to have dreams as children and some later as adults, but too many of us reject our own dreams as impossible, without even trying to achieve them.

I fell into that chasm for awhile myself.

It’s easy.

You stop believing in your own dream and so do your friends. You all end up living the life of quiet desperation Henry Thoreau warned us about 1885.

However, if you are lucky, something will reactivate your dream — at any age — and you will have a second or even third chance to pursue it.

No matter what anyone tells you, it is never too late to go after your dreams.

Stan Lee created his first comic at 39. Laura Ingalls Wilder published her first little house on the Prairie book at 65. Susan Boyle won Britain’s Got Talent at 47. Vera Wang entered the fashion design industry at 40. Julia Child didn’t have her first cookbook published until 50. Charles Darwin was 50 when he published On The Origin of the Species. Ray Kroc was 59 when he bought his first MacDonald’s. Grandma Moses started painting at 78. Gladys Burrill ran her first marathon at 86.

Thankfully, they didn’t listen to the naysayers who have given up on their own lives.

If something “lights you up,” do it. I can almost guarantee it will make all the difference in your life.

Start with baby steps and keep going … It will be the best of times, it will be the worst of times. At times you will want to give up. These are the times to steel yourself and keep going. Many people give up right before they achieve their dream. That is often the darkest of times.

Want to share your dreams? I find giving them voice can be a good way to get them rolling again. Add them below!

Muse Thanks, Giulietta