Tag Archives: dreams

Dreams, Proverb

Bloom Where You’re Planted

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Flowers-growing-out-of-the-concrete-photography1

 

“Bloom where you are planted.” -ancient proverb

 

I have lived in the same house for nearly all of my 28 (almost 29) years of living.  This home is full of so many memories.  Echoes of my past reverberate around me daily.  Like a time traveler, I cross my own time line more often than I realize.  Sometimes the ghosts of me are suffocating and sometimes they remind me how far I’ve come.

My childhood memories are like a distant dream.  I jumped on a trampoline in this yard, I played with dolls in my room, and I lay on this same living room floor while I did my homework.

My awkward, uneasy teenage years were spent here.  I cried in my bedroom as I battled insomnia.  I wrote poetry in my journal.  I got ready for prom and graduation.  I grew up.

After college graduation, I returned here.  I dreamed of leaving this place.  I left and discovered that the real world could be unpredictable and unpleasant.  I tried to move away twice, but returned each time and I’m still here.  This house has been my launching pad, but for some reason, I always find my way back.

Almost every day I wish I was somewhere other than here.  I complain about how small my town is and that I don’t have many opportunities here.  It seems like I spend most of my time wishing instead of growing. Instead of blooming where I’m planted, I whine and become bitter.  Because life doesn’t always go the way I expect, I forget how I blessed I really am.  Though my roots are firmly planted here, that doesn’t mean I can’t learn, thrive, and blossom.  This town might be the perfect soil I need to help me dream, write, and create.

If you feel like you are stuck as I do sometimes, know that you are where you are for a reason.  It doesn’t matter your location, but what you do with the talents and resources you’ve been given. You and I must learn to let our roots provide a solid foundation for us as we grow upward and strive towards our full potential.  As we let our past water us with wisdom, we will look to the rays of hope shining down on us, and leading us to a brilliant future.

Dreams, Voltaire

Stop Waiting and Start Living

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tangledwhenwillmylifebegin

 

“We never live; we are always in the expectation of living.”-Voltaire

 

Everyone hates waiting whether it is in the checkout line, waiting for a package to come in the mail, or just waiting for the weekend to arrive.  We complain about stores that don’t hire enough cashiers and how we’ll never find our soul mate.  We hate waiting for our food to arrive in a restaurant and for the next chapter of our life to begin.

What we fail to realize is that we don’t have to wait for overall change.  Yes, waiting will always be a part our days, but that doesn’t mean we should sit on the sidelines our entire life.  Instead of expecting happiness and success to drop out of the sky, we should take an active role in pursuing them.

In ‘Tangled’, Rapunzel spent years staying inside her tower, because her mother (or who she thought was her mother) told her to.  She spent her days waiting around and doing activities to keep her from boredom instead of taking a risk and finding out what was in store for her outside.  She wondered when things would get better for her in ‘When Will My Life Begin’:

Just as Rapunzel trusted Mother Gothel, sometimes we trust others instead of heeding ourselves and what we know we should do.  Instead of following our dreams or doing what we’re called to do, we listen to the people around us that tell us to be realistic.  We confine ourselves to a predetermined form of life instead of thinking creatively about our aspirations.

We hate waiting, yet it is so easy for us to wait instead of taking action.  We expect things to happen on their own.  We look ahead to the future for an event or circumstance that we think will make us satisfied.  We should live more in the present, taking small steps that will help us achieve our goals.  Life is brief; a few breaths and then it is gone.  Life is what is happening while we are waiting for something better to come along, so appreciate today.