Don't Stop Dreaming

By , SparkPeople Blogger
When you were a kid, what was one of your favorite things to do?

For me and the kids in my neighborhood it was DREAMING. We used to pretend or dream about what we wanted to do when we grew up. We had big dreams back then, that’s certain. Some of the dreams included things like:

I want to travel the world

I want to be a doctor

I want to work at Sea World

I want to travel in outer space

And my personal favorite was: I want to be in a rock band.

Oh, the dreams we had a kids. Yes, I wanted to be in a rock band (going to space was a close second though).  I even remember myself and three of my friends in my small town dressing up like KISS. It wasn’t Halloween. It was a DREAM and we were doing what we could to following that dream. We had costumes, make-up, pretend microphones, wigs, everything. There are pictures, somewhere. It was SO easy to dream as a child, right? There was no hesitation in our ambitions.  We just went for it.  Whether it was jumping a ramp on my bike with 15 bricks stacked high or pretending to be Ace Freely.

Do you still have dreams and aspirations? It seems that as we get older sometimes we are more likely to give up or change our dreams significantly. Why do you think that is the case?  Why do we sometimes give up on dreams and aspirations? Maybe you’ve not given up yet. Maybe circumstances have led you to suppress your dreams. Maybe your childhood dreams seem foolish now that you're grown and instead of creating more mature dreams, you just stopped dreaming altogether? Maybe your parents, teachers, spouse, friends, somehow led you to believe that dreams are not possible. 

I have a question for you. Have you ever considered your HEALTH and WELLNESS as part of your dreams?

Here is what I mean by that. You have a bucket list, right? You know, a list of things that you want to do in your lifetime. This bucket list is a list of dreams. A list of aspirations that you want to accomplish. This list could contain any number of different items that are very personal to you. This list might include jumping out of an airplane, surfing, swimming with sharks, driving a NASCAR, or hang gliding. You get the idea. ANYTHING is possible, right?
How much of your bucket list have you accomplished?  

I want to encourage you to keep dreaming, keep working toward those goals. You may very well be hearing a voice in the back of your head saying things like, ''You can’t do that'', or ''Why bother trying?''.  Maybe that voice is saying something like, ''You can’t even stick to a healthy diet, what makes you think you can achieve another goal?''

You’ve heard that voice in your lifetime, right?  I know many times I used to hear and believe that voice.

You can change that voice.  I’m here to encourage you today to keep moving forward on this journey to better health. Your dreams and aspirations matter and your health should not get in the way. 

I would like to offer just one piece of advice for all of you working on this journey.  You MUST change what you are putting into your head.  Your MIND has everything to do with your health journey.  There are so many influences that are filling your heads with positive and negative thoughts.  Free your mind and the rest will follow.  Get those negative thoughts out of the way and focus on your journey.  Focus on your dream, then go MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Changing the way you think is not an overnight process. Much like dropping a few pounds, it will take time. Be patient with both and your DREAMS can still happen!  Don’t let a temporary road block keep you from a dream. You CAN change, it just takes time.

What dreams may have been altered in your life due to your weight management problem?  Are there bucket list items you HAVE completed since you took your life back?  What are they?  Share your lists here. You may inspire the next person who reads this blog.