Thursday, August 26, 2010

what are you waiting for ?



there is no time like the present- seriously, this is all you and I got.

You can try to tell me every dam excuse in the book of why your life is so miserable, why you haven't been somewhere, why you haven't made this amount of money, bought "that" car, found "that" girl, learned "that" skill, lost that weight, etc...the list goes on and on and on and ON...

We have all been "there"- some more than others. A place where we wallow in our self-pity and present to the world a person who has been a victim of some sort of circumstance that has put us" there" in the first place.



Many of us create incredibly detailed reasons in our mind why we just can't do something- why we are just not "good enough" or "smart enough" to make our dreams come true :"My mother beat me." "My girlfriend left me." " I only got C's in college" . Go ahead- write down your "why I cant do this" list now or think about what excuses you have used in your past or are currently using now- you may be surprised at how negative your mindset really has been for much of your life.



So what is it that REALLY stops us from going for our dreams ? Is it fear of failure , of looking like a "loser" in others eyes ? Is it maybe a sort of "depression" comfort zone we get used to after thinking this way for so much of our lives ? Or maybe what really stops us are the massive amounts of fear-based negative messages that bombard us daily from the world around us (i.e. " the world is a big and dangerous place and you are weak and small." )?



Okay, so here's the scoop.-I am here to let you know first hand that the best thing you can first do to start making your dreams come true is to JUST DO IT. Yes, that is right. I know this may not seem like such earth-shattering news and lord knows Nike made enough off this expression so something's gotta be kind of corrupt here but honestly, this is it. This is all you have to do. Start with one thing you want to have or get accomplished in your life and make this your priority with all else you do.


For example- you want to go to Bali. I don't blame you. Bali is a magical, spiritual, beautiful place filled with amazing culture, people, landscape and food. I had always dreamt about going to Bali as well and I didn't just want to go there for a week or so- I wanted to live there for awhile, explore its neighboring countries and be totally immersed in its culture for awhile.

So about 15 years ago, I made it a priority. I took on a couple of extra jobs teaching, playing music, and directing shows and drastically reduced how much I shopped for "meaningless stuff". No more going to Costco on Sundays for "bulk" shopping or eating out every night because I was too lazy to cook at home...Nope, I had enough of all the basic physical comforts in my life and just needed to focus on having enough cash to get my butt off the island that i lived on to another island about 5,000 miles away. (seems kind of funny now as I write this as I just realized so much of my life has been filled with traveling from one island to another- hmmm....I see another entry coming on this topic soon:-) )



So I worked my butt of for about 6 months, sacrificing on some of the modern comforts I was used to but knowing full well it was all for one goal: to go to Bali. And yes, I did end up living in Bali for a month and saw just about every corner of this magical place. New friends were made as well as a newfound connection to a spirit world within me that was waiting to be set free- Bali did this for me and I will be forever grateful.



My suggestion to anyone reading this right now is this: if you have a dream, please go for it. Your mind is the ONLY thing that is stopping you. Please turn off those demons in your head that keep telling you all the reasons you "CAN'T" do something and instead start writing down daily lists of all the things you are doing towards making your goal come true.

It is not just a one-day process either- you need to sometimes literally "re-wire" your brain into how it sees "you" in the world and this takes time. Yes, visualizing is always good- Try actually "seeing" and "feeling" yourself in the situation you are dreaming about from every little detail to how your body and breath feel to how you will feel when you wake up in the morning, I have done this countless of times and on a daily basis and I can tell you that when the dream finally does "come", it often feels like a bit of a "deja vuz" as my manifestations are often very similar of what I first dreamt about.

So start that list. Start it now. And start with number one. And please do everything you can possibly think of to make that first dream come true. Then start working down your list. You will start seeing these dreams come true quicker than you could have ever imagined.

See you in Bali.




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6 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm so glad to have met you this summer Melina! Thanks for all the wonderful words and pictures - your reflections on life and travel are an inspiration to me in realizing my own dreams!

melina said...

Thanks so much Garrett ! It was such a pleasure meeting and working with you as well ! You are such the consumate musician and I truly hope we get to jam more soon ! So happy you were inspired by a few of the words I shared..this truly means the world to me. Thanks for taking the time ....hope all is well ! aloha, melina :-)

360guy.org said...

For you I believe there is a level of being beyond the day to day; that you see the people you meet on the road--kids, beggars, toothless locals as teachers, when the rest of us might just be wishing they'd get the hell out of the way because we need to see the sights. Love your insights...

melina said...

hey there (Rick)- I am curious why you feel that I am living a "level of being beyond the day to day" from reading this entry about fear...is it because you know the way I like to travel , experience life in general or was it something you picked up from my comments here about fear and what might stop people from acting on their dreams? .just curious- and just trying to make the connection here... I often wonder what people may pick up from a just few words of writing- as I think that we, as readers often 1) "fill in the blanks" based on what they know about the person first-hand or 2) the writer writes well enough for the reader to really "get them" in a sense that they "know" them and can relate to them...I think this is sort of the same phenomenon that movie stars have- when they act "so well" in a role, we feel like we know them , whether or not it is authentic or not...thus brings me back to the mission of a writer- do you try to be as authentic as possible or do you try to cater to what you think the reader may want to hear and think ?-..thanks for taking the time to read and respond...nice recent entry with your blog as well...I remember when you first shared with me your story of meeting that nice Irish couple.-.you look so happy here !

rick said...

Here is what I meant: Reading your words it sems to me that you are animated by a different world view than most. A better, more loving one. The folks who have popularized the notion of attracting what you want are right----if you move through life without judging, open to others and truly feel love for those you encounter you attract that back to you----people who love you without judging.

My comment intended to point out that you travel in actual "love" mode naturallywhereas most of the rest of us are worried, focused on our own needs and therfore can only "fake love," hoping to not get hurt or disappointed, or, worse, get something back without much effort. You are an example of how to travel without judging, full of love, curiousity and a light heart. Matter of fact---an example of how to live life.

melina said...

ahhh, thanks so much for the clarification-.now I get exactly what you meant- and yes, I think there is something to be said for being wired with "no fear" when you are traveling the world (and life)- amazing experiences and people tend to show up !