Dream Reader, Is that you?

Who is my dream reader? At first, when I looked at this assignment, I thought that I would skip it. I already defined who my reader would be in a previous post and maybe even touched upon this in my bio. I have been known to skip the gym, put off writing assignments ( LOL.. hence this late post for Blogging 101), and skimp on sleep ( yes, I know this is not good for me – especially when I feel like a zombie the next morning, but I’m a work in progress) to handle what I may feel is a more pressing matter at the time. But enough about me, this is really about you – my dream reader.      

Things always come up but, you have to decide what’s important and how you’d like to define what your life will be like. Sure I’ve mentioned this before nevertheless, I’ll say it again – you can’t take care of others unless you take care of yourself. If you are always putting everyone else’s needs, wants and desires before your own, you will be unhappy and have a very unfulfilled life. Now I know that you don’t want that. You’ve probably heard of that oxygen mask analogy. Basically before takeoff, the flight attendant tells you that in the event of an emergency to put your oxygen mask on first and then help the person, child or adult, sitting next to you. Why do they tell you to do this? It’s simple, before you can help anyone else you must tend to your needs first so that you can give of yourself to others.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not recommending that you drop all the important commitments of your life to go run off and frolic through the tulips. (If that brings you joy, by all means take some time to do that but schedule it first.) Some of us have families, jobs, kids and /or elders to look after.  Somewhere in your long to do list, you may need to squeeze some time for yourself and make you a priority. As Joel Osteen says, “You are a victor and not a victim!” Think it, believe it, and declare it!  Your circumstances don’t have to define you but you can define your place and your state of mind in the midst of your circumstances.

How can you make you a priority?

1. Define what you want in life. – Set some goals and boundaries. Commit to a process and let go of being chained to an outcome.
2. Learn to Say “No”. – Define deal breakers. Identify how you will respond to challenges and naysayers.
3. Forgive – Forgive yourself and others. (You may not forget, but let it go so you can move on. Be at peace with whomever and whatever that’s stealing your personal joy.)
4. Make time to do things for you. – What do you like to do? Define, decide and then do it!

I’m not sure if I really defined who my dream reader is. Or am I really writing more to get these thoughts out of my head? Can you relate? I hope to connect to the person who has dreams and may have quite a full plate. There’s no need for you to sacrifice all of your dreams at the hands of your circumstance(s). We are placed here to live joyfully and abundantly and to commune with others.

So what say you? Are you my dream reader? Did this resonate with you? Are you ready to join me on this journey? Please share your thoughts.