I’ve often thought when we’re born, we’re each given a bookshelf with three rows. One row for our annual experiences. One row for dreams. One row for our values and character. Each day we live, each moment we are in the world, we’re creating more titles for more books to set on our bookshelves. We’re born and we begin learning. We begin adapting to our environment. We begin observing people’s response to situations. We begin deciding which values and traits we’d like to have and which we need to discard. We record these in our “annual experiences”. Our annual experiences are who we are, who we’ve been, who we’ve impacted…and they should never ever read the same. You should not be able to pull one year of your life off the shelf and have it read almost identical to the next except with different characters. We should be evolving. We should be moving toward something else. We should be recognizably more.
But why is it that for most of us, any year can be interchangeable with the next? What keeps us from progressing, from evolving, from pursuing our passions? I believe for some it’s fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of the risk, fear of an adventure that we might actually enjoy. What keeps us practicing the same old habits year after year? Is it the thought of change and how much effort that presumably takes? Is it that we’ve lulled ourselves into the security of what is that what if seems so far off? Is it that our experiences good or bad is what we’ve allowed for our lives and to change would mean a shift that’s well… just a little scary? Who would we be then? What would we dare to do? At least we know what our limits are now, what if we blew the ceiling off? What if we dared to step into the arena of life and battle for our hearts? Do we consider our lives worth the fight? If all of your annuals look the same, are you ready to change the channel?
Or perhaps its the author of our annuals of life experience? Maybe our days are so much more. Maybe we have had opportunities along the way that we just haven’t seen. Maybe we’ve had gifts and surprises along the journey but we’re afraid of unwrapping them for fear of what’s inside. Maybe our days really don’t run together or look the same, maybe it’s our eyes that fail to see the beauty in the simplest of moments and precious pearls in our wake. Maybe we need to be willing to give ourselves permission to get outside of our boxes of predictability and dare to dream again.
Can you see your bookshelf of dreams? Is it so full of titles that there are books laying along the tops of the other books? I wonder what titles you see? Trip to Australia, Hiking the Grand Canyon, Scuba Diving in Belize…or maybe your titles read College Professor, Encouraging Speaker, ATP Tennis Tour Player…perhaps even smaller books like Seeing Wild Mustangs, Sunset in Maui, Skydiving. Maybe for some of us, there are books that have been on the shelf so long they’re covered in dust, their titles read Writing a Book, Meeting The One My Soul Longs For, Girls Weekend in Paris. Maybe for some of you, dreaming has been on hold for so long that it’s time to start filling up your bookshelf! Carve out time to consider what titles you’d like to add, it’s never too late, just the possibility of allowing yourself to dream will slowly begin to awaken your heart from the slumber it’s been in far too long.
So be of good cheer friends, your bookshelves are sturdy enough for the weight of your life. Your bookshelves are big enough to hold all the dreams of your heart. Most of all, your bookshelves are what people will read of you when you’re time on this earth is done, what will yours say?
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