The Mind Loops Blog, October 2023
The accountant who, as a young boy, spent hours every day drawing comics and robots and spaceships and always dreamt one day of being a science fiction author… Now waking up every morning with a listlessness doctors have termed “depression” and is considering medication.
The intelligent and sensitive woman who married an overtly vivacious and exciting man, who, years into the marriage, still loves her, but also controls and sometimes belittles her… Now the woman drinks too much wine every night… and recently discovers a lump in her lung (some say grief causes this).
The young woman who, in her teens, fell in love not with boys but the piano, spending hours at it, even composing a book of her own songs. But that passion was forced away when she went to college to achieve straight A’s. Now she is employed at a high pressure tech company, has a wonderful yet demanding fiancé… and her hair is falling out in huge chunks, and her heart beats an irregular rhythm.
Depression, accidents, illnesses… If we don’t allow our heart and spirit to express themselves, the universe will find a way of forcing it to happen. Why not face it before it becomes a big issue – even if doing so is isn’t easy, and is sometimes downright terrifying?
That Internal Pressure Might Be A Dream Trying To Be Heard
We all have dreams. And they can hurt – mentally, emotionally, and even physically. They press against the heart, begging us to free them. To honor and act upon them.
And yet they’re so frightening. They mean we have to change. To grow into something different and unknown, and beyond who we believe ourselves to be.
That’s what dreams are. They are a force of expansion, of pushing us into a new you, a new me. Something bigger than we were five seconds ago.
And it hurts when we don’t listen to them. Even before any illnesses or accidents occur, we get ornery and short with people. We get short with ourselves. We criticize ourselves and tell us we’re no good and we procrastinate and we can’t do it anyway and we’re frauds. What right do we have to attempt this dream anyway?
Who are we to dream?
The fact we have that energy pushing inside our hearts to expand is exactly the reason why we must listen to it. It is, itself, the reason we are worthy to dream. It is our worth, pushing us forward into a fuller version of ourselves.
Nothing stands still. Everything grows, blooms, moves through phases of gestation and completion, life and death. Nothing is static. So we must move. We must move forward, upward, inward – but not backward, at least not for long, or for very far.
Dreams Are Scary
But our deep dreams, desires, and needs can make us nauseous with fear. I know this because I have a dream too. I have several. And lately they are literally nauseating me, in their attempt to get me to notice them and act upon them.
Do we have the courage to allow them out? Or are we satisfied to sit back and just daydream about them? Are we satisfied to check them out from time to time, only to push them under the rug with the declaration:
I don’t have time for that – or
My spouse doesn’t want me to do it and I don’t want conflict – or
I don’t have the money – or
But I can’t miss the next episode of “Homeland”! – or
I’d love to, but I definitely don’t have the skill or talent – or
I’m too old – or
…any of the other Mind Loop excuses?
Every one of those excuses are trying to keep you safe from failing. From making a fool of yourself. From feeling like a non-existent fish in a giant pond of gorgeous sea creatures.
But just because they’re trying to keep you safe doesn’t mean that’s what they’re doing. In fact they are stymying wholeness. They are chopping off core parts of you that long to be expressed. And they will cause tremendous regret with each day you ignore them and push them aside.
One Step – That’s All
One step toward your dream or need. That’s all you need to take. And then tomorrow you take one more step. And if you don’t know what the step is, you trust that the Universe will reveal it to you.
Because if we don’t pursue our dreams, desires, and needs, we fall sick – if not in our bodies, then in our minds or in our hearts. Disgust with the world and with our life will spew out in the form of regret, blaming, and resentment.
We don’t want to live that way, do we? I don’t.
Do Courage… and Magic Occurs
Courage isn’t something we have or can learn. It is something we do. Courage can only happen when we do something scary. We’re scared sh*tless, but we do it anyway. That is courage.
Where have you been courageous in your life before? Believe me, there are many, many instances of it. Pull upon that courage. Each step you take toward your dream will make the dream feel not so foreign and big and overwhelming.
Same with moving toward your needs. They will start feeling more normal and natural:
“Of course I deserve this! What was I thinking all those years?!”
The nauseating feeling will go away.
The pushing against your heart will soften. Because the universe will see you are listening and responding. And that you are “doing” courage.
And then… magical things will start to occur.
I am not kidding nor exaggerating about this. Synchronicity will become commonplace. You will start feeling lighter. The banality of life will begin to lift and you’ll remember how it feels to be in a state of wonder – the way you felt when you were a child. You will smile more.
I’m not saying it will be easy. Because it will be change, and change is always hard because it is different from what was, and leads to an unknown.
But it will be worth it. Oh, how can I express this enough?
You… Today… Ask Yourself:
When was the last time you asked yourself what your dreams are? What your needs are? Which big ones are you sweeping under the rug?
I hope today is the day you lift the corner of that rug and take a peek at that dream or need. Ask it if it still wants to come out and play. Be willing to help it along. It may have been under there a long time. It may not trust you yet. Show that dream, that need, that you care. You care about it, and you care about yourself.
That is your one step for today.
Then tomorrow honor it and yourself again, with the next step.
Love, Barbara
Barbara Ireland
Author of the #1 Amazon Kindle Bestseller, How To Stop Negative Thoughts
Contributing author of the #1 Amazon Bestseller, The Transformative Power of Near-Death Experiences
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