I’ve been dancing in Blackpool Tower Ballroom this weekend.
This is a dream come true for someone who loves dance.
Not many amateur footballers get to play at Wembley or tennis players at Wimbledon.
But amateur dancers can dance at the beautiful Tower Ballroom, thankfully 🙂
When I was a child I regularly imagined I was a professional dancer.
I LOVED dancing then and I still do.
When you were a child, when your imagination was allowed to roam free, what were some of the things that you imagined doing?
What exciting things did you conjure up in your head for your future life?
When you were big and had all your own money and independence?
What were the dreams you had for when you became a grown up?
As well as a dancer, I also wanted to be an air hostess and a teacher (all at the same time.)
I used to line all my dolls and teddies up in a row and teach them something on my little chalk board.
Then I’d fly them all somewhere exciting for tea (obviously air hostesses don’t actually fly the plane, but that was a minor point for my 6/7 year old brain).
I’d never actually been on a plane then, but I must have seen them on TV and thought they looked very glamorous and exciting.
I fancied a bit of that.
I loved stories, so had a very vivid imagination, as most children do.
It was easy for me to say; when I’m older I’m going to do this and this and this and this.
The list of things I was going to do when I grew up was endless.
And then I grew up, and I didn’t do any of them.
My low self-esteem meant that I played safe, I played small and I just did what most other people around me were doing.
I went to Uni for a few months, decided it wasn’t really for me, and then got a job.
…As a civil servant.
Not glamorous or exciting!
All my dreams of being a teacher or an air hostess were long since forgotten.
As were all of my other childhood dreams.
I just found a steady job and stayed there – for decades.
I didn’t give my childhood dreams and desires another thought.
I just knuckled down, got married, built a home and brought up my 2 wonderful children.
I thought dreams and desires were fanciful, stupid even.
Real grownups just got on with “life.”
Years later, I realised I was wrong.
Yes, we all have responsibilities and need to adult our way through life.
BUT our dreams and desires weave magic for us.
They give our life more meaning.
They give us direction.
They are a compass to our happiness.
Our dreams and desires are put inside us for a reason.
We are MEANT to pursue them.
We are MEANT to follow our bliss.
My bliss and your bliss will be different.
It’s so so important that you spend time cultivating your bliss.
Putting thought and energy into your dreams and desires.
If you don’t, life can be one long drudge of responsibilities.
Our bliss, our dreams and desires are what give our life meaning and colour.
I want you to sit down with a piece of paper and a pen.
Not your phone – the written word is much more powerful.
And I want you to brainstorm some dreams and desires.
Daydreaming is good for you!
It’s not just childish nonsense.
So brainstorm what bliss means to you.
Most people when asked what they really want from life will reply, I just want to be happy.
But then they do absolutely nothing about their happiness.
Does bliss mean travelling – around the UK or abroad?
Does bliss mean pursuing a different career, in something more suited to your gifts and talents? Having your own business?
Does bliss mean a relationship – if you’re single, (or a new relationship, if you’re not) with a loving, super-compatible partner, who’s really on your wavelength?
Does bliss mean having the time to pursue your hobbies and interests on a really regular basis?
Does bliss mean having a year off and volunteering at something you’ve always had an interest in?
Does bliss mean spending less time at work and more time with your loved ones, friends or family?
Work out what bliss means to you?
Be realistic, but not too realistic. Stretch yourself.
I want you to push the boundaries here.
I DONT WANT you to think about the practicalities.
Don’t worry about the how for now.
Just write down any dreams, desires, or bliss that comes to mind.
I want you to almost switch of your head and free-write.
Don’t analyse or think about it too much.
Just go for it, like you did when you were a child.
Let your imagination run free.
If there are any desires you can implement easily and immediately, then fill your boots.
Start following your bliss straight away.
For everything else, just add it to your list.
When you have your list, I want you to stick it somewhere obvious.
On your fridge, or on a pin-board, or somewhere like that.
Somewhere where you will see it every day.
If you’re feeling artistic you could create a vision board, with images of your dreams and desires.
Once you have your list or board I want you to start reading or looking at it every day.
EVERY DAY.
Just picture, feel or sense how good it would feel to be doing or having that dream or desire.
This will start to programme your subconscious mind.
As inspired action comes up, take it.
Again, don’t focus on the how. Let your subconscious figure it out.
When you give it a problem or a puzzle, it will go to work, finding a solution or a way.
You can refine your list adding and/or removing things as you need to.
You should only have things on there that are really meaningful to you.
Not what other people think you should have, or what you think you should be expected to have.
No. Only what is really meaningful to you.
You might find that some of the things on your list were on your childhood list.
I believe our dreams and desires are placed in our hearts for a reason, if this is the case, they will often be with us for a lifetime.
This method has improved my life so much.
It has helped me travel to countries I previously would never have imagined, doing things I never would have expected, spending time with people I love dearly.
It has brought me a career I adore, financial abundance that makes my eyes pop and incredible fulfilment and happiness.
Every day I am following my bliss.
If I hadn’t taken the time to know what my bliss was, it wouldn’t be possible for me to now be following it.
I still have a list today that I refine as my bliss expands.
I still have some biggies on there, that I haven’t achieved yet, but every day I continue to follow this process.
And I know (with 100% certainly – no dog-poo doubt – haha from my earlier blog) that somehow my subconscious mind will guide me to them if I keep taking the right action.
One of the main reasons so many people suffer from depression or an unfulfilling life is because life does not live up to their expectations.
It’s not turning out the way they hoped/expected.
Invest some time in actually mapping out your bliss and things might start to match up a bit more for you.
Wherever you are in life, whatever life has already thrown at you, it’s never too late (or too early) to follow your bliss.
Back to my Blackpool Tower cloud…
Much Love
Christina xx