Have you ever heard the phrase, dream, believe, achieve? Of course you have, it’s on t-shirts, mugs, bracelets, and just about everywhere. In fact we see it so much now that it almost has no meaning. The truth is though, there is real magic in those words. Let me start things off with a little of my story.
My name is Barbara, and ten years ago I was in a pretty dark place. I had just had my second baby, I was teaching full time, living 4 states away from all of my family, oh, and I decided to add grad school into the mix. I was drowning, but it wasn’t just the work load. I was truly miserable. This is kind of hard to admit, and I rarely think about this time in my life. The Before Time, we’ll call it. In The Before Time, I was surviving. I went to work because I had to, not because I wanted to. I kept adding onto my plate to try and avoid dealing with what I was feeling. Deep down I was devastated that this was my life. I couldn’t dare to imagine my life staying like this for years to come, but I also couldn’t believe there was any way out.
I couldn’t imagine my life staying like this, but I also didn’t believe there was any way out.
I don’t want to mislead. I had a wonderful, happy family, a nice home, many friends, and everything that, on the outside, made it seem like I was living my best life. You know how this story goes though, on the inside, I was struggling. It’s not a unique story and that should have been comforting, but when you’re in the midst of trying to just stay afloat, there is no true comfort. You kind of don’t even believe there is hope. That’s the thing – you don’t BELIEVE, and that right there is the beginning of everything.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. In The Before Time, I was not living, I was surviving. Wake up, get ready, get everyone else ready, drive to day care, drive to work, stay at work for 8-9 hours, drive back to daycare, home, homework, dinner, baths, bedtime, my own homework, sleep, REPEAT. Sound familiar? If you truly love your job, then this schedule is not drudgery, but if you don’t, this feels more like a life sentence. I could not see any possible way for this to be different, until one day…
One day I saw a friend making changes. She was slowly building a business that eventually enabled her to leave her full time career. A tiny and almost imperceptible something began to stir in my heart. WHAT IF? That’s it, just what if? Then I started thinking more and more, what if I could? What if I tried? What if there’s more? What if I am more? And that is where belief started. Once I began to believe in the possibility enough to take one step, things began to change.
But here’s the thing, if wasn’t a belief in MYSELF at first, oh boy did I ever doubt myself, but it was a belief in the possibility. I get started just believing the dream could, maybe, possibly happen. And I kept stepping forward. It took years for the belief to be about me. Once I was able to leave my full time career and focus on things that I loved doing, I began to believe in myself.
So, what’s the takeaway here? If you have an inclination to change something about your life, all you have to do is take one step in a different direction. And that one step could open some big doors!
