If you want it, make it happen

Having had an amazing holiday on a canal boat in August, my partner and I are discussing the possibility of buying one. I have been spending hours on Pinterest finding images, posting photos of boats I have seen for sale, dreaming of interesting interiors and thinking about how I would make that small space feel like home. Pinterest really is a great place to capture images and feelings and to start building up a picture of a life that combines my values of minimal living, connecting to nature, travel and adventure, new places and new experiences.

But through my wanderings around Pinterest I have despaired at times. It seems to be a place where people choose to believe they can’t have what they want. Just some of the names of Boards I have come across are:

Places I’ll go on my private jet

If I was a millionaire…OK, multi-millionaire

When I become a millionaire

People are spending time on things they think they want but believe they can’t have.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for dreams. They give you a vision for things to aim towards. They inspire you to do more and be more. They push boundaries and aim you higher. I want people to dream big and dream large.

But why waste your time on dreaming but not acting?

Those things on those boards, do the people really want them? If they do, then why not make it happen?

It seems that some of us too easily dismiss something as out of our reach without trying to make it happen.

That white sand beach and turquoise blue sea in the picture. Where can you go today to get that feeling of beauty? Of escape? Of tranquility?

That immaculate home with beautiful furniture. What area of your lounge could you make beautiful today? What part of your home can you declutter and tidy and clean?

We can get a bit of those dreams each day if we wish. Or we can save up (time and money) to make some of it a reality.

If you believe it can’t happen to you, it won’t. If you think that life is for someone else who is luckier than you, then that is true. But I believe you can live the dream life. You can live YOUR dream life. We only have one life and we can make dreams happen or we can sit and wish they would just appear.

I don’t know that we will definitely buy a canal boat, but as we discuss it and investigate it some more and really look at what is important to us to ensure we are living a life that truly meets our values we will get clearer and closer to what we want. It may not be a canal boat. It may be a camper van. Or an apartment in the mountains. Or a shed in the countryside. Or a long-term cycling trip. Or an eco-home that we design ourselves. Or perhaps all of the above! But if we don’t investigate it and discuss then those dreams will just remain on a list.

What in your life have you put as a fantasy that you could actually make a reality? 

Life doesn’t get gifted to us on a plate, or even in the form of a cheque from the lottery commission. Life is about making it happen. Taking chances. Giving it a go. Working towards these dreams and making them happen.

So let’s find out what is important to us. What we value and what we desire. Then lets find ways to make that happen – today, tomorrow and next year. Let’s frame our dreams as realities and then bring them to life.

Are you with me?