Thirty
Minutes That Will Save Your Dream
By
Suzanne Falter-Barns
http://www.howmuchjoy.com
If you’ve got a
dream you’re intent on pursuing, chances are you’re
going to bog down at some point. That’s just the way
dreams are. In fact, there’s a little known rule about
this called the Second Rule of Thermodynamics, which states
that sooner or later everything returns to chaos.
In other words, expect your dream to come crashing down
around your ears periodically.
Yet, no need to despair; such meltdowns are actually good
for your dream, because they force you to stop and rethink
your approach if you want to continue. That’s the
only way you can find the footing to continue, and in that
process, you’re forced to learn and grow. This is
when I always pull out my trusty guided visualizations.
Nothing, but nothing, can turn your mind around quite as
effectively as a good guided visualization. It can create
hope where there was none, clarity in a space of confusion,
and immeasurable inspiration. If you subscribe to the same
notion that I do – that all of our ideas and instincts
around our dream are guided – then this is where you’ll
find the mother lode of such information. A good guided
visualization will connect you with deep inner truths that
most of us simply can’t tap into consciously.
So basically, you, too, can be a Ghandi or a Nelson Mandela
or a Thich Nacht Hahn … if you dig deep enough and
surrender fully enough. (Those enlightened souls have taught
us that such round-the-clock access to the spiritual goods
requires one heck of a lot of meditation, not to mention
a saintly obfuscation of the ego.) In the meanwhile, the
next best thing is to turn on the guided visualizations.
By guided visualization, I mean a recording of someone
leading you through a meditation. First they relax you;
then they help you imagine yourself in a particular place,
or having a certain experience. A great guided visualization
will lead you into situations where anything can happen
and anyone can show up. You simply sit back and observe
as helpers show up, insights are gained, and instructions
are received.
Sometimes the path you see is a familiar one you’ve
imagined often with your conscious mind, and the meditation
serves as a wonderful confirmation of your plan. Yet, other
times it can be strange and dark, making no sense whatsoever.
My own students have come to me with alarm when they saw
a picture of chaos, or violence and degradation. And yet,
in talking it over later, they usually recognize a deeper
meaning to the picture. Over time, if they repeat the process,
they are often left with a greater insight than they anticipated.
For instance, Rosemary was a frustrated writer who hated
her daytime job, and was given to fits of gallows humor
about it. When she first did my Discover Your Soul Purpose
meditation, she uncovered a chaotic back alley, full of
lurking, menacing figures. She did the meditation several
more times and the situation only marginally improved. Yet,
what Rosemary took away from the experience was that her
life was out of balance, and filled with dark, negative
energy. She quit her job, attended to her failing health,
and re-approached the meditation some months later. Now
the scene was remarkably different, a sunny courtyard in
which she could see herself as a writer for the first time.
In fact, Rosemary had not ‘done the meditation wrong’,
as she’d been quick to assume. (“I must be the
only person who didn’t do this thing right!”)
Instead, her soul was giving her a direct signal that she
was tangled up in life circumstances that were obscuring
her dream. The meditation, for all of its supposed lack
of clarity, had really been clear as a bell.
The only real way to interpret the images we get in these
visualizations is to check in with our gut. There may be
age-old gypsy wisdom that water means good luck, or that
a duck is an omen of impending death … but I say that’s
all poppycock. The only person who knows what your visualization
means is you; your gut is the only thing that should ever
guide your interpretation. What is it telling you about
what you saw -- that you need balance, like the confused
Rosemary? Or that you need courage? Could it be that you
simply don’t want to admit that what you saw is actually
true?
Often we get images of ourselves leading such a life of
power and abundance that we can barely stand it. It brings
tears to our eyes as we acknowledge that we really can do
that thing we sorely wish to begin. In that instant, we
see how small and constrained we’ve allowed ourselves
to become; yet, we also see how much impact we could have,
if only we could choose the right path.
Above all, guided visualizations give us permission to
dream. They allow us to see ourselves graphically living
a different life, feeling the feelings, smelling the smells,
and owning the power. We see a higher, truer aspect of ourselves,
and in that instant, understand how unstoppable we really
can be.
This is the biggest reason I rely on guided visualizations
in my work – because they take you beyond the sugary
platitudes about ‘going for it’ and ‘reaching
for the stars’. Instead, they deliver you smack into
your dream for a moment, so you can see the impact and importance
of what you’re here to do.
Once you really know the true rightness of what that feels
like, down deep in your gut, nothing can keep from making
that vision a reality. Even if the images you see are more
fleeting or obscure, they will leave you brushed with truth.
This is the wisdom that lurks in our bones; wisdom we can
access simply by taking the time to turn on a visualization.
Learn more about guided visualizations at http://www.howmuchjoy.com/soulpurpose.html
Also, check out Suzanne Falter-Barns’ free ezine,
The Joy Letter, LINK which brings you practical tips and
tools for your dream every other week. Sign up at http://www.howmuchjoy.com/joyletter.html
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