Don't Die with Your Song Still in You!
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It really doesn’t matter who you are, how old or young you are or what occupation you have, the one thing most of us have in common is our desire to be more, to do more, and to follow our dreams. For most of us, unfortunately, the closest we will ever get to following our dreams is in our dreams! So, what makes the difference? Why are some people following their dreams, singing their songs, living their lives to the fullest and some aren’t? Is it luck? Is it talent? Is it simply being in the right place at the right time? The difference between those who follow their dreams and those who don’t is the amount of “clutter” in their lives.
I imagine when you hear the word “clutter” you think of material things. But that’s not the clutter I’m speaking of. The clutter I’m speaking of is not material clutter, but rather the clutter in our minds, the mental clutter that keep us from living the life that makes our heart sing! There are many thoughts and thought patterns that clutter our minds. From the mundane to the profound, from protective to reactive, positive and negative, we’re constantly thinking. Thinking about the future, thinking about the past… Thinking, thinking, thinking!
Eric Butterworth, a great philosopher and author once said, “More important than learning how to recall things is finding ways to forget things that are cluttering the mind.” Well, I’ve found there’s one clutter, above all others we must eliminate from our minds if we want to begin living the life of our dreams. It’s worrying about what other people think! Worrying about what other people think! If we eliminate this one clutter, then we will be free to follow our dreams. So what can you do to clear the clutter; to stop worrying about what others think?
I have two steps that worked for me!
#1 Monitor your “inner speech”, make sure it is your own and it matches your dreams!
There’s probably a long list of people, most of them relatives I’d bet, who have strong ideas about what you should be doing, who you should become, how you should act & how you should be thinking. If your thoughts are cluttered with what others expect of you, you’ll continue to live a life that is not your own. So whenever you hear yourself saying anything like – "what would they think of me", "what would people say", or "people will laugh at me", realize what those thoughts really represent. They are other people’s opinions that you are allowing to prevent you from following your dreams. It was Dr. Seuss who said, “Say what you mean and act as you feel, because those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter."
At age 49 I took that first step and began following my dream! I am now 53 and have more passion, enthusiasm and unwavering determination to reach my goals than I’ve ever had in my entire life. I monitored my "inner speech”, made sure it was my own, and matched them to my dreams. And this is what has happened so far:
I created a series of visual/audio DVDs for meditation/relaxation that in its first year aired on, "The Harmony Channel" , on Comcast Cable TV. It was featured as boarding video for all domestic and international US Airways flights for over a year. The executive producer of a CBS series called "The Ghost Whisper" used my DVDs as a backdrop for his keynote speech in Chicago last summer in front of 2,000 people. I’m currently putting the final touches on my first E-book and leading my first workshop this summer entitled “Whole Body Wellness: Mind, Body & Spirit.” And I was recently contacted by a British author in Malaysia who writes books on reducing stress in teenagers. She and her managing partner in Hong Kong want to collaborate with me in the US in promoting their book using my visuals for relaxation in teens. When you do eliminate the mental clutter and are following your heart, your dream, doors begin to open. Monitor your “Inner Speech” and make sure it is your own and it matches your dream!
The second step is the hardest but the most rewarding. It’s the one that propels you down your path. It’s the one that puts the wind in your sail and builds in you the courage to continue taking steps until virtually you eliminate the worry about what other people think! But the great thing is that it’s best done slowly, one small baby step at a time. That’s the beauty of it, the genius of its design. The seeming miracle in how it works.
#2 Step out of your Comfort Zone and ACT toward your Dream. In other words, you must DO, ACT, SAY, whatever it is that you need, to Follow your Dream without regard to what others think.
It can be a simple statement to someone your trust about your dream. It may be to enroll in a class that pertains to your dream. It may be to buy a book about you dream. It really doesn’t matter what you do, so long as you DO something to get the ball rolling. There’s an old Irish Proverb that says, “You will never plough a field, if you only turn it over in your mind.”
Susan Broyle of "Britian's Got Talent 2009" is a perfect example of someone who took action toward her dream, in spite of the actions, thoughts and opinion of others! After reading this article, view her video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-UtIOXBBjI. Her action of putting herself on stage for the world to see was hard. But without that step and the previous ones she had taken to arrive at that point, her dreams, which I’m sure she’ll now realize, would never have happen.
What makes you happy? What makes your heart sing? Not the heart of your relatives, friends or co-workers, but your heart? Whatever it may be, you can have that life, that dream if you will only stop worrying about what others think and take the simple actions steps toward that dream.
The world now more than ever is in need of your dream, your song. You have a song to sing! Don’t Die with Your Song Still in You!
I imagine when you hear the word “clutter” you think of material things. But that’s not the clutter I’m speaking of. The clutter I’m speaking of is not material clutter, but rather the clutter in our minds, the mental clutter that keep us from living the life that makes our heart sing! There are many thoughts and thought patterns that clutter our minds. From the mundane to the profound, from protective to reactive, positive and negative, we’re constantly thinking. Thinking about the future, thinking about the past… Thinking, thinking, thinking!
Eric Butterworth, a great philosopher and author once said, “More important than learning how to recall things is finding ways to forget things that are cluttering the mind.” Well, I’ve found there’s one clutter, above all others we must eliminate from our minds if we want to begin living the life of our dreams. It’s worrying about what other people think! Worrying about what other people think! If we eliminate this one clutter, then we will be free to follow our dreams. So what can you do to clear the clutter; to stop worrying about what others think?
I have two steps that worked for me!
#1 Monitor your “inner speech”, make sure it is your own and it matches your dreams!
There’s probably a long list of people, most of them relatives I’d bet, who have strong ideas about what you should be doing, who you should become, how you should act & how you should be thinking. If your thoughts are cluttered with what others expect of you, you’ll continue to live a life that is not your own. So whenever you hear yourself saying anything like – "what would they think of me", "what would people say", or "people will laugh at me", realize what those thoughts really represent. They are other people’s opinions that you are allowing to prevent you from following your dreams. It was Dr. Seuss who said, “Say what you mean and act as you feel, because those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter."
At age 49 I took that first step and began following my dream! I am now 53 and have more passion, enthusiasm and unwavering determination to reach my goals than I’ve ever had in my entire life. I monitored my "inner speech”, made sure it was my own, and matched them to my dreams. And this is what has happened so far:
I created a series of visual/audio DVDs for meditation/relaxation that in its first year aired on, "The Harmony Channel" , on Comcast Cable TV. It was featured as boarding video for all domestic and international US Airways flights for over a year. The executive producer of a CBS series called "The Ghost Whisper" used my DVDs as a backdrop for his keynote speech in Chicago last summer in front of 2,000 people. I’m currently putting the final touches on my first E-book and leading my first workshop this summer entitled “Whole Body Wellness: Mind, Body & Spirit.” And I was recently contacted by a British author in Malaysia who writes books on reducing stress in teenagers. She and her managing partner in Hong Kong want to collaborate with me in the US in promoting their book using my visuals for relaxation in teens. When you do eliminate the mental clutter and are following your heart, your dream, doors begin to open. Monitor your “Inner Speech” and make sure it is your own and it matches your dream!
The second step is the hardest but the most rewarding. It’s the one that propels you down your path. It’s the one that puts the wind in your sail and builds in you the courage to continue taking steps until virtually you eliminate the worry about what other people think! But the great thing is that it’s best done slowly, one small baby step at a time. That’s the beauty of it, the genius of its design. The seeming miracle in how it works.
#2 Step out of your Comfort Zone and ACT toward your Dream. In other words, you must DO, ACT, SAY, whatever it is that you need, to Follow your Dream without regard to what others think.
It can be a simple statement to someone your trust about your dream. It may be to enroll in a class that pertains to your dream. It may be to buy a book about you dream. It really doesn’t matter what you do, so long as you DO something to get the ball rolling. There’s an old Irish Proverb that says, “You will never plough a field, if you only turn it over in your mind.”
Susan Broyle of "Britian's Got Talent 2009" is a perfect example of someone who took action toward her dream, in spite of the actions, thoughts and opinion of others! After reading this article, view her video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-UtIOXBBjI. Her action of putting herself on stage for the world to see was hard. But without that step and the previous ones she had taken to arrive at that point, her dreams, which I’m sure she’ll now realize, would never have happen.
What makes you happy? What makes your heart sing? Not the heart of your relatives, friends or co-workers, but your heart? Whatever it may be, you can have that life, that dream if you will only stop worrying about what others think and take the simple actions steps toward that dream.
The world now more than ever is in need of your dream, your song. You have a song to sing! Don’t Die with Your Song Still in You!
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