Do you ever feel like, “I just don’t know what to dream anymore”?
We feel our dreams have abandoned us. It seems as if everything we’ve dreamed has turned to dust.
Phil and I have lost count of the number of business ventures we attempted that failed. We had one string of bad luck after another. We knew we were doing the right things, but everything was turning out wrong.
Why weren’t those things working? We were prayerful, giving of our means, spiritual, positive, joyful, grateful . . . we were “doing the deal”! Why didn’t it work?*
“Why?” is the wrong question to ask. Why leads us into judgment. Judgment takes us away from the experience and into doubt and bitterness. The better question to ask is “What?” What did I learn? What did I experience? What shall I try next?
Each venture that Phil and I attempted and failed taught us something very important toward our role as leaders or granted us a tremendous gift in some way. The biggest thing failure gave us was the ability to release relying on how we think it should be. We became free to live beyond any limiting expectations.
The Heart’s Dream dreamed us into existence. The fear-filled, self-willed people we used to be couldn’t do the work we each do now do. Failures whittled away the rough edges and prepared us for what was to come. Our prayerful willingness to follow our interests led us right where we needed to be. Even when we thought we needed to be focused elsewhere.
As we allowed our attention to be drawn into areas that we loved, we found worthy work there.
Those failures were hard. We couldn’t help but take them personally. And that was also a good thing, because then we allowed ourselves to take good, hard looks at what we were doing, how we were doing it, and what we could do differently. Discouragement was a luxury we could not afford. At least not for longer than a day or two.
We are grateful for every painful step that led us to the fulfillment of our Heart’s Desires even when we didn’t know what they were.
So, I totally get it if you find yourself discouraged. Discouraged doesn’t mean you don’t have courage, it just means that you got the wind kicked out of you and you need a bit of a breather. Catch your breath and try again. And again. And again if need be. If failure is happening, it’s because your heart may know a better way. Your heart wants to align with your soul’s purpose.
You get to trust the process, and remember that it is a process. Failure is not a death sentence, rather the re-start button. Once your heart and your mind and your soul’s purpose align, you will attain success. Don’t be surprised if it doesn’t look like you think it’s gonna.
May your Heart’s Dream find you!