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Thirty Minutes That Will Save Your
Dream
by
Suzanne Falter-Barns |
If you’ve got a dream you’re intent on pursuing,
chances are you’re going to bog down at some point.
That’s just the way dreams are. In fact, there’s a
little known rule about this called the Second Rule of
Thermodynamics, which states that sooner or later
everything returns to chaos.
In other words, expect your dream to come crashing
down around your ears periodically.
Yet, no need to despair; such meltdowns are actually
good for your dream, because they force you to stop and
rethink your approach if you want to continue. That’s
the only way you can find the footing to continue, and
in that process, you’re forced to learn and grow. This
is when I always pull out my trusty guided
visualizations.
Nothing, but nothing, can turn your mind around quite
as effectively as a good guided visualization. It can
create hope were there was none, clarity in a space of
confusion, and immeasurable inspiration. If you
subscribe to the same notion that I do – that all of
our ideas and instincts around our dream are guided –
then this is where you’ll find the mother lode of such
information. A good guided visualization will connect
you with deep inner truths that most of us simply can’t
tap into consciously.
So basically, you, too, can be a Ghandi or a Nelson
Mandela or a Thich Nacht Hahn … if you dig deep enough
and surrender fully enough. (Those enlightened souls
have taught us that such round-the-clock access to the
spiritual goods requires one heck of a lot of
meditation, not to mention a saintly obfuscation of the
ego.) In the meanwhile, the next best thing is to turn
on the guided visualizations.
By guided visualization, I mean a recording of
someone leading you through a meditation. First they
relax you; then they help you imagine yourself in a
particular place, or having a certain experience. A
great guided visualization will lead you into situations
where anything can happen and anyone can show up. You
simply sit back and observe as helpers show up, insights
are gained, and instructions are received.
Sometimes the path you see is a familiar one you’ve
imagined often with your conscious mind, and the
meditation serves as a wonderful confirmation of your
plan. Yet, other times it can be strange and dark,
making no sense whatsoever. My own students have come to
me with alarm when they saw a picture of chaos, or
violence and degradation. And yet, in talking it over
later, they usually recognize a deeper meaning to the
picture. Over time, if they repeat the process, they are
often left with a greater insight than they anticipated.
For instance, Rosemary was a frustrated writer who
hated her daytime job, and was given to fits of gallows
humor about it. When she first did my Discover Your Soul
Purpose meditation, she uncovered a chaotic back alley,
full of lurking, menacing figures. She did the
meditation several more times and the situation only
marginally improved. Yet, what Rosemary took away from
the experience was that her life was out of balance, and
filled with dark, negative energy. She quit her job,
attended to her failing health, and re-approached the
meditation some months later. Now the scene was
remarkably different, a sunny courtyard in which she
could see herself as a writer for the first time.
In fact, Rosemary had not ‘done the meditation
wrong’, as she’d been quick to assume. ("I must
be the only person who didn’t do this thing
right!") Instead, her soul was giving her a direct
signal that she was tangled up in life circumstances
that were obscuring her dream. The meditation, for all
of its supposed lack of clarity, had really been clear
as a bell.
The only real way to interpret the images we get in
these visualizations is to check in with our gut. There
may be age-old gypsy wisdom that water means good luck,
or that a duck is an omen of impending death … but I
say that’s all poppycock. The only person who knows
what your visualization means is you; your gut is
the only thing that should ever guide your
interpretation. What is it telling you about what you
saw -- that you need balance, like the confused
Rosemary? Or that you need courage? Could it be that you
simply don’t want to admit that what you saw is
actually true?
Often we get images of ourselves leading such a life
of power and abundance that we can barely stand it. It
brings tears to our eyes as we acknowledge that we
really can do that thing we sorely wish to begin. In
that instant, we see how small and constrained we’ve
allowed ourselves to become; yet, we also see how much
impact we could have, if only we could choose the right
path.
Above all, guided visualizations give us permission
to dream. They allow us to see ourselves graphically
living a different life, feeling the feelings, smelling
the smells, and owning the power. We see a higher, truer
aspect of ourselves, and in that instant, understand how
unstoppable we really can be.
This is the biggest reason I rely on guided
visualizations in my work – because they take you
beyond the sugary platitudes about ‘going for it’
and ‘reaching for the stars.’ Instead, they deliver
you smack into your dream for a moment, so you can see
the impact and importance of what you’re here to do.
Once you really know the true rightness of what that
feels like, down deep in your gut, nothing can keep from
making that vision a reality. Even if the images you see
are more fleeting or obscure, they will leave you
brushed with truth. This is the wisdom that lurks in our
bones; wisdom we can access simply by taking the time to
turn on a visualization.
©2002 Suzanne Falter-Barns.
Reprint permission available by request.
Suzanne Falter-Barns Barns is the author
of How Much Joy Can You Stand? A Creative Guide To
Facing Your Fears and Making Your Dreams Come True (Ballantine
Wellspring.) You can learn more about guided
visualizations at www.howmuchjoy.com/tangdysp.html.
Suzanne Falter-Barns’ free ezine, The Joy Letter,
brings you practical tips and tools for your dream every
other week. Sign up at www.howmuchjoy.com/joyletter.html
and receive her valuable report, "Thirty-Five
Guaranteed Time Savers". It helps you create time
to finally live your dreams.
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