Courage And Following Your Dreams - Scary Shit

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I am very good at following my dreams.

In fact, it's the one trait that I know people admire (they tell me). There might be more about me that people love but only those very close to me usually express it.

Following your dreams is bloody easy.
I know, tightrope walking is easy for those that can do it ... but really, there's no secret in it.
Just be selfish.

Once you become bloody minded, focused and see everything and everyone as a means to the end you can easily gain a reputation of being wonderful at following your dreams. I DO NOT, however, mean you should see everything and everyone as something to be squashed, walked on, used-and-abused, mere hurdles in the way ... I do mean that if you see everything and everyone as potential partners in your dream, as something that could help up over the next step with a helping hand, as someone who knows someone that can advise or even as someone that can say, "Wow, that's an awesome dream, go for it!".

If you shit on people on the way to your dream well, to be honest you've fucked up the dream and you'll never get it. It will stink of crap when you arrive, nobody will have any inclination in being anywhere near your dream OR, even worse, they'll see you and your dream as a means to screwing you big time.

Favourite quote about people + dreams from someone somewhen:
The difference between those that do it and those that don't are those that do it, do it

Oh, and they have courage.

Actually, they have a smidgen more courage than some but they're likely to have more:
  • drive
  • passion
  • willingness to fail
  • acceptance they'll look stupid
  • ...
Courage is for lions.

A drive to do something (anything) that is your dream is much deeper than courage. It is something that lives, breathes inside of you. Courage is called upon as needed but, if there's no passion to base the courage on, it can be a very hollow activity that will drain and diminish all future calls upon courage. With drive, passion and a goal that calls to your spirit you can have as many moments of courage as you need, big or small.

For me the moments of courage come in two packets:
  • letting the goal grow
  • letting the passion come out
I am very adept at seeing something awesome, getting it clear in my head (live it, see it, taste it - how do you know what your dream is if you can't "see" it coming true). It takes a while and I know it takes baby steps, talking with people and letting the universe do it's thang. Sometimes it turns out slightly different but, to be honest, not that often. So, I can see it, I then get focused on making it happen which is where I can fall over.

I am crap at window shopping. I am instant gratification boy. I see it, I want it.
This is where I fail a lot at dreams. Rushing at them and scaring them away.

I did this late last week.
It hurt. I hurt someone else.
In fact I hurt, in the space of one evening, 3 very special people. Spectacularly dumb.
I did it by not letting the dream grow - one was my dream another was someone else's.
Well, to be honest I am sure my mate from Aussie didn't even notice but, well, I wasn't proud.

The other failure I have is not letting the passion out.
I can sometimes BURST with how life changing, world changing the dream can be and think that the rest of the world doesn't want to hear it - it might scare them. How bloody egotistical is that - I might scare them. FFS.

2010. Time for lots of changes.
Change with image (the "Webstock look" worked for 2 years but it's tired as I am of it).
Change with 'goal growing' - time to listen to Liz, take it slowly and let it grow.
And the one that will take courage in both overall approach and lots and lots of moments - let the passion out. I've been amazed to see some people in my Wellington world do it, people that probably don't even know I am admiring them from afar (yet) and it's time to suck it in, step up to the mark and DO IT!

(shit it's scary)

Comments

  1. Mindi ClewsDecember 06, 2009 8:27 pm

    Hey..appreciate your straight talking heartful sharing...looking forward to the passionate explosions. xox, m

    ReplyDelete
  2. MattDecember 06, 2009 9:05 pm

    Excellent post big fella. I think it's great that you've stopped to recognise what happened, where other's wouldn't have blinked. That's what makes you special. Chin up and stretch yourself, we have lots of great things to achieve next year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Julia FDecember 07, 2009 9:38 am

    Fantastic and inspiring Mike! Thanks for sharing, you have really made me stop and think. That must have been a hard post to publish - but good on you - really appreciate your honesty and openess.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mike RiversdaleDecember 08, 2009 9:20 pm

    Thanks Mindi, Matt and Julia for the kind comments.

    And the first preso since me showing the passion went well (I think, some said yes)

    ReplyDelete

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