We all, in some form or another, have a desire to follow our dreams … whether that means having a family, becoming a millionaire, starting a rock band, or inventing the cure for cancer. The dream is there, it just varies for each unique person.

I have talked to a lot of people on the concept of following your dreams, I guess because that is what I was doing by going into the music world. The one thing I hear over and over, which always surprises me, is that many people don’t even know WHAT their “dream” is. So, I’m going to detail some steps in this regard … and then throw a major curve ball at the end. 🙂

Step One: Discovering Your Dream
A good description of a “dream” to me is “something that moves, or fulfills, your soul”. So, in order to discover your dream, the best place to begin is getting to know yourself. Spend some time meditating, being quiet, and listening to what moves you … if you quiet your mind enough, maybe you’ll hear God telling you what it is.

Step Two: Putting Flesh On The Bones
This is the part that can be fun; this is where you get to start exploring and experimenting. Maybe you read a book that changed your perspective, and you decide you want to pursue writing, for example. Now is the time to make yourself ready for whatever is intended for you: education, or just starting what you want and GOING. I had no clue what to do when I realized I wanted to be in music … but I quit the dead-end job I was doing at age 22 and started waiting tables to give me the flexibility I needed. I never knew what was going to happen, but I put it in motion. You plot your course, but then you have to actually set sail … or you’ll never get there.

* WARNING – beware of people offering you the answer to your dream … there is a high likelihood that they want to be the Captain of your ship. Don’t ignore help, just don’t let someone else hijack your vessel. Also, be prepared for attacks … you’d be surprised by the number of people who are jealous of anyone pursuing a dream … attacks could even come from friends.

So, don’t get hijacked and don’t get sidetracked by attacks … now what??

Step Three: Where The Rubber Meets The Road
This is the hard part … this is the part that could take years, even decades … DON’T GIVE UP. Think Jason and the Argonauts, or Moses and the Israelites wandering in the desert for forty years. If you are not willing to see the dream through to the end, it’s better to just not begin … accept normalcy, and learn how to be happy with that. There are a LOT of heart aches and breaks in this stage … I know MANY more people who have given up on their dreams, than I do who are still pursuing them.

The Curve Ball
Now that you have reached this place … you MUST be willing to let go. I know, you’re thinking “But you just said to never give up!” Well, letting go and giving up are two, totally different things. Letting go entails being open to whatever Divinely manifested influences, or opportunities, come your way. This is where you go back to Step One … Step One needs to be going on all the time. You must keep yourself connected to God as your sustenance, because there will be times where there is no other sustenance to be had.

None of us know what God’s plan is. This is actually where I currently am. I have not given up on my dream of being in the world of music … but the path has evolved from my original dream of being a singer/songwriter, to classical music, to now learning that the core of my original dream was really to help people … the way that the singers did for that troubled teen, way back when. So now I see that I really just wanted to share God’s love with people; the way it had been done for me. The dream is still alive … but it is evolving, and it is now my job to wait on God and see where God leads me. Everything I’ve done has all led me to this place … except, like Moses, I’m no longer wandering in the desert. I’ve reached the Promised Land, and now the REAL work can begin.

That is the biggest “curve ball” of all … that the dream God gave you is just one step … a step that was needed to possibly take you somewhere completely different than what you initially visualized.

The journey of pursuing your dreams may wind up being different than what you thought … but you will never be bored, I can guarantee you that! 😉

When you open yourself to the unknown … you also open yourself to knowing God intimately, and being used by God … so long as you have “ears that hear”.
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Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

We all are loved by God, and NO religion or person has a monopoly on it. Every single person on this planet is loved equally by God … SO many are cut off from God because they are told they don’t belong. God loves everyone … we ALL are beautiful creations … we don’t need to cringe when we hear the words “God”, or “religion”, or their judgments … God LOVES us all!

There is no requirement to change in order to be LOVED by God, or to LOVE God. God is LOVE, and LOVE is God … period. There is no one who God loves more than anyone else … there are only those who choose to LOVE more … to love God more, and consequently then to love each other more. In doing so, we grow closer to God … and know God.

By opening our hearts, and minds to God (free of boundaries like religion, or social trends); by LOVING God … we are exactly where we are meant to be. If we maintain that openness, never allowing any person or event to make us close our hearts, we will be guided by God to be who we are meant to be.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

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