How many times have you had to put your dream on hold because you had another so-called “priority”? And how many times have you thought that you had a shot at finally being able to start that business, learn how to paint that painting, begin working on that album or anything else you’ve toyed with doing only to have to put it away once again because “the time wasn’t right”?
How many times have you had to —— W-A-I-T?
You think you finally have worked hard enough, long enough and sacrificed enough to be able to coast for a while and work on your dream and WHAM! something happens and you have to pack away that precious that you just took out of its protective wrap, lovingly dusted off and set out to grow.
Don’t ya just hate it when that happens? I know I do.
For a lot of us this is a syndrome we are more than familiar with and some of us have even become resigned to the process. But what do you do when the dream takes the lead; when your dream refuses to be pushed aside any longer?
How many times have you thought to yourself, “When is it my turn?” as you watch your family grow, your significant other pursue their passions and there you are, still holding your breath while you, and there’s that word again, W-A-I-T.
So frustrating, so gut-tangling, so demeaning! W-A-I-T-ing. Yuck!
Ok, so why do you do it? How does waiting to follow your passions serve you? I suggest it must somehow or you’d find a way out of it. When you get to that point when, as a dear friend of mine put it, you “reach that point up with which you will not put”, change happens.
So what are you, gulp, W-A-I-T-ing for? 
When will you begin? What’s the payoff to avoid taking the plunge? This is your passion we’re talking about, not someone else’s! How long have you secretly nurtured this dream? And what have you done to call it to you and keep it in existence?
Aha! That’s more to the point, isn’t it? It’s very easy to keep a dream at arm’s length, wishing it would happen to you, wondering what it would feel like to experience xyz, but all the while doing what you’ve always done because it’s safe or because you can’t bring yourself to step off that precipice. I’m going to share something with you… it never is easy. Your dream will never come to you while you do what’s safe; in fact, I don’t believe it will ever come to you at all! You have to take action, make a break with status quo and make that leap of faith.
Planifest Your Future
Here’s a new word for you — “planifest”. What is planifesting? As the Created Life Dictionary defines the term, it means to create a structure or a plan of action that calls a dream into being. When you planifest a dream, you begin with your vision of the dream already created, manifested and real and you look backwards to see what you did to make it so. Once you know what that looks like, you create benchmarks that will ensure you do the rest of the steps and after a bit, voila! Your dream is before you.
This also means that you can see the smallest step necessary to get the process started and take it. You don’t have to do everything at once, you don’t have to have the end result just plop right into your lap (although I love it when that happens – it does sometimes!)
So let’s shift what it means to W-A-I-T. Let’s see….
Wisely contemplate
Accumulate data, experiences and build expectation
Invest in yourself/investigate options
Take action
Sounds better, doesn’t it? How about reframing the experience of W-A-I-T-ing into one of preparation, study and forethought?
I mean, face it. Sometimes you have to do things that are less than exciting. And sometimes, others in your family need to be given priority. That’s life. But you cannot and need not surrender who you are and what YOU want.
Dreambuilding for Someday
Just do a little more research into what it will feel like, smell like, sound like when your dreams become tangible. Do some dreambuilding. For example: My daughter dreams of being a chef and someday owning her own restaurant. She spends her days reading cookbooks, planning meals and trying recipes. We have an appliance store here in town that has beautiful kitchens already set up. We took a picture of her the way she will be someday and now she can keep that in front of her to bring it into focus.
So my friends, dream on and dream big. You get to set the parameters, you get to set the stage. Happy W-A-I-T-ing!
Not only are these good to ask your customers, (and I would really love it if you would comment to answer them for me), but these questions are also good to ask of yourself, your friends and your relationships!
With all the pressures of Social Networking — 
