May You Reach Your Dream

Yesterday morning, I felt fine. Long story short, sparing the details, in the middle of the day I collapsed in public. At least it was in front of adults and not kids. (I teach.) But there is nothing more embarrassing than collapsing in public, let me tell you.

As I was being transported to the ER, I started thinking about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. (Doesn't everyone think about Maslow while in an ambulance?)

Beauty, as you can tell, is at the top of the pyramid of needs, with esteem and self-actualization. And when you are struggling with meeting things at the bottom of the pyramid, like physiological needs and safety (including my body health issue), that need for beauty certainly takes a backseat.

It's a curious thing, how it all works. How we as humans need food and employment and friendship and confidence before we can reach that coveted self-actualization. It sort of connects to the idea of "no excuses". Can we make eternal excuses and never reach self-actualization? Absolutely! On the other hand, at some point we just have to convince ourselves that our lower tiers of needs are satisfied *enough* and that we can, in fact, reach the higher tiers, even though we have some issues to overcome.

Many people I know have health issues.

They all continue reaching for their dreams.

So, was Maslow wrong? Can we reach for self-actualization when we are hungry all the time? I don't know the answer to that. But I do know that we just have to keep moving forward, because backward is just not an option.

 

My love to everyone who works through their adversity to reach for their dream.

Dream It? Do It!

I have had a string of randomly weird things breaking in my life. Over the past year, we have had to (or still need to?!) fix, repair or replace our furnace, hot water heater, dryer, water tank from the well, toilet, stove, multiple lights (bulbs keep burning out… a lot), internet connection and both vehicles have required some significant work. And my husband is seeking a new job.

But I am thankful. I am thankful to have my husband and my daughter. I am thankful to have extended family. I am thankful for our health. I am thankful for our garage (hey… it’s been snowing since November… you’d be thankful for a garage, too!)

 

My point is, some crazy weird stuff has happened TO us (as in, we did not make these things happen), but that crazy weird stuff isn’t all that bad. But for a while, it was really starting to get to me. It felt like every month some major thing happens that we have to deal with. It was stressful, expensive and I was just about done with it. What am I saying? Crazy weird stuff will always happen. There will always be *something*. What I’m trying to do is to make that crazy weird stuff that WILL happen into good stuff!

To manifest means to make clear.

I’m making it clear what I want. I want my family together. I want my house and cars in good shape. I want my husband to have the job he deserves and a creative place to make art. I’ve got goals and I am going for those goals. Just flat out going for them.

If I Dream It, I Do It.

I do want to state that I am not much for spirituality. This isn’t about me finding God or following some path of destiny. I do not have the “chalk of fate” here.  What I am doing is approaching life with the perspective that there are things I want, and I am reaching for those things. Every day, with deliberate, methodical action.

That might just be why I feel better about my stuff breaking. Instead of dreaming and wishing and hoping, I am just DOING. I’m taking action and doing things to work on my dreams.