“If you’re not pursuing your dreams, you’re not living. You just exist.” -unknown
For years I lived my life like so many do, finished school and found a job. Many jobs actually. Truth be told, I did not like any of them. I had that itchy feeling, there had to be more to life than this! How was this my reality?
Stuck in the process of daily life, like everyone else, I was bored, stressed, angry and miserable. Interestingly, I just continued with what I knew, I had no real drive to make a change, I guess that’s just the way it was for me back then. But deep down I knew, happiness, exploring the world and having a positive impact in some way was what would make me feel truly alive.
At the age of 40, burned out and disillusioned about many things, I took a break from my life and volunteered as an English teacher in Thailand for a period of 3 months.
It woke me up! I decided this was the life I wanted to live!
After my stay in Thailand I returned to Holland, quit my job, sold my house, kissed my loved ones, friends and family goodbye. I left my life as I had known it, in Holland, and moved to Thailand. Initially, as a volunteer again, but after meeting with my "now best friend", Roos, I started a resort and a Foundation for children with disabilities.
At the age of 62, I continue to live my dream life, in the middle of nature, working with incredible people. We are able to help many kids via the Foundation and I meet so many lovely people who come to stay at our resort. I realised the dream I had while I was in Holland and I love my life!
Come and see me - I would love to share my dream with you and …...hear about yours too!
What’s your dream? What’s in your heart, in your spirit, in your soul?
And let me tell you this: even though I realised my dream, the dreaming never stops ….. I found, I am a professional dreamer. There are so many things to discover and do, people to meet, projects to find. One of my dreams that has been realised too is the Today-I-Rise project to help people realise their dreams.
Here are my top 3 tips that I used to make a start on realising a dream:
Name the dream. Share your dream with others. Talking about the dream brings it into reality. As you share it, it begins to take form. I talked with my friend Tanya and guests at my resort about setting up workshops and asked if they would be interested in doing something like that. Tanya was and the guests were too! And that gave me a boost to not only see the dream, but also believe in it.
Start taking action. What are 3 things you can do today towards your dream? Set a time frame. I developed a workshop, a workbook for the Today-I-Rise project and started to promote it at my resort for people to join. And they did!
Involve other people to help you with the realisation of your dream. After all, nobody said you have to do it by yourself. You probably do not have all the skills needed (think: business plan, website, social media, fundraising etc.). Many of your friends and family members might be experts on that, or know someone who is…. And believe me, most of them would love to help you! In my case I approached Tanya to work together, not just do my workshop, but combine forces and Today I Rise, the organisation was born!
You will see, before long, if you use this approach, you’ll become known for your dream, attracting others who help you on the journey, broadening your community. The process of pursuing your dream will help you grow as a person, in ways you never imagined. Eventually, you’ll realise that dream.
It begins with you!
See it, Believe it, Act on it.
And..... by all means, never stop dreaming!
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