SELF DOUBT or BIG DREAMS

SELF DOUBT or BIG DREAMS

You have to decide if self doubt or big dreams will lead your adventure when going after something you love.   The reason I wanted to talk about the self doubt or big dreams because it’s a choice and a battle I have been dealing with the evolution of my adventure novel, Saltwater Taffy.

When we think about going after our dreams, self-doubt has the uncanny “in-ability” of creeping in, looking for ways to defeat us before we even begin our adventure.  The more mental attention we give to the dream and not the doubt OF the dream, the more power we can wield.

When we go after our dreams, it must be a choice from the deepest part of who we are and not a mental battle of SHOULD I GO FOR IT or SHOULD I JUST TRY TO FIT IN.  When we “battle” something, we give that something power,  which is why we now have the title for this entry as: DREAMS or DOUBTS: It’s up to you!

Doubt had nothing to do with capturing my dream of writing Saltwater Taffy.  Sure, it was there and at times it occupied my mental activity, but all that happened was it made me feel horrible inside.  It actually made me sick to my stomach.  Fear, doubt and worry have a way of doing thing.  Then I realized that I had a choice in how I was spending my time.  I could either focus on the dream or continue the stomach ache of doubt-filled thinking.  Obviously I chose the dream.

Doubt has nothing to do with my vision of seeing Saltwater Taffy on the best seller list.  Doubt has nothing to do with my vision of seeing Saltwater Taffy up there on the big screen in REAL D 3D.  For me, it is not a matter of “if”, but simply a matter of “when.”  Which brings me to the question we need to ask ourselves on a daily, moment by moment basis.

WHAT IS MY DREAM?

If we don’t ask the question, we can certainly expect a long journey to the middle of ‘fitting in.’  So…again, have you asked yourself the question lately?   The question that makes your heart race and fills your eyes with wonder?  You know, the dream you know you should do, but for some crazy reason, you don’t?

Having a dream is a gift from ourselves to the rest of the world.  Dreams are the soul’s desire, and it is our duty to make them happen.  If we don’t, who will?  If not now, when?  When we ignore a soul call of something we know we should do, we are failing at this thing called life.  Growing up is hard, but failing to answer your SOUL CALL is a crime against who you are TO BECOME!

For some reason, dream catching in our culture has been replaced with America’s fascination with shopping.  In Minnesota, they have the Mall of America.   I don’t think it would be a far stretch of the imagination to say that America has become one big mall.  There’s the strip mall.  The quick mall.  The stay-all-day mall, which is the newest addition to this model of over-fed, over-led, all-out consumption practice in America known as the “entertainment complex.”

There is nothing wrong with going to the mall, and I for one LOVE the entertainment complex, BUT….and that’s a BIG BUT…if the activity of going shopping keeps us from achieving our soul’s desire, how good can the activity really be?

Here’s a novel idea for us to consider.  What if we stayed home?  What if we saved some money, got out of debt, and began to work on something that will actually make us feel better about who we ARE, and not simply about what we can BUY?

Imagine the joy of sitting back one day where you can say to yourself, “I am living my dream.” I say this because I am doing just that.  I am living my dream of telling stories that make a difference in the lives of others.   Saltwater Taffy used to be a dream of mine and now that dream is happening in real time…moment by moment.

Dream catching is not fantasy thinking.  Dream catching is simply creating a practice of asking the deep question of how we want to spend our time in the future and then ANSWERING THE CALL.  We can either punch a clock for someone else’s dream or we can capture our own….daily…moment by moment.

WHY NOT GO FOR IT TODAY?

Always remember…every moment is a new adventure waiting to happen.

Eric “Uncle E” DelaBarre is an award-winning filmmaker and author of the adventure novel, Saltwater Taffy. Copyright May 7, 2011. All Rights Reserved.