Spiral Dragonfly Coaching
Mary's Magical Musings
Dreams vs. Fantasies
Let’s start by defining dreams. When I share with people that I am a dream coach, invariably they start talking about their nighttime dreams and ask about symbols and interpretations. This is not what I do. The word dream appears in many advertisements. Visions of a dream car, a dream vacation or even a dream physique splash across the screen or page as advertisers try to entice us to fulfill their dreams of market share. The “who do I want to be and how do I want to live my life” dreams are what I focus on with my clients.
In my practice, I distinguish between dreams and fantasies. Most people have fantasized about winning the lottery. What they would do with ALL that money. They may have their favorite numbers that they play every week. Or they may fantasize without ever buying a ticket! This is the difference between dreams and fantasies – a person can take action steps toward a dream. They can have an impact on whether or not a dream comes to reality. In the fantasy of winning the lottery, the only impact someone can have is to purchase a ticket! After that it is out of their hands, up to chance and the luck of the draw.
However, if you have a dream, you can plan how to fulfill that dream. You can gather people together to assist you. You can figure out the budget necessary. You can save toward the dream. Or maybe the dream requires time as well as money. You can release some of the busyness of your life to create space for the dream.
I was one of the worst people I know for saying “no”. I found it next to impossible to say “no” when someone asked me to do something. When an organization was looking for an officer for next year, the nominating committee somehow sensed that I would acquiesce and accept whatever position they were having trouble filling. This practice never allowed space for my dreams to grow. One of the habits I learned from Dr. Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was that it is much easier to say “no” when you have a burning “yes”. When you have identified a dream that you are working toward and planned out the necessary time commitments to fulfill that dream, it is much easier to say “no” to the offers that are not in alignment with the dream.
Spiral Dragonfly is MY dream! It has moved me forward over the last year and helped me practice saying “no” to offers that weren’t in alignment with my dream. Please join me in celebrating the joy of saying “yes” to our dreams! If you want to send me your comments, please do so at mary@spiraldragonfly.com.
Next week we will look at believing in our dreams and the magic around us.
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