Stop chasing your dream life, have it now.

The hamster wheel is worse than Groundhog’s Day.  It is constantly running, pushing, doing and staying in the same place.  Chasing life, chasing dreams, chasing the one day - instead of living it now.

We all have dreams - some short term, some long term. Yet, we miss life if we put off enjoying life until we attain certain goals.  I am a compulsive goal setter, so I am totally in favor of striving and reaching - and I am super impatient. Yet, I love the present.  The key is balance.

Balance comes when we think of goals from two perspectives: what it is we want and how we want to feel.  The thing we want may be a year off, but the feeling that thing gives us we can choose to live now.

I am undertaking a renovation.  I want it done now - as in yesterday (remember, I’m impatient).  The goal is completing the physical structure according to plans. That’s one perspective.

Although, I undertook the project to give more space to do things I enjoy, I am looking for a feeling: the spaciousness, ease, calm that that space will facilitate.  I can choose to live in those feelings now. I shift my mindset: I tell myself it is here now, at least in part. I begin to notice where I feel spaciousness now, appreciate the moments of calm more, and choose to feel at ease as if the project is complete.

By using tools I gather in meditation - awareness, visualization, and noticing - I can create the feeling I am seeking through my goal NOW, in this moment.  So, I not only get the physical goal in the future, I get to live my dream now.

Say you are having challenges in a relationship, write down how you want to feel in the relationship.  hen use your tools to focus on where those feelings are present now - it’s focusing on everything that’s right, not on what’s not working. Continue therapy or counseling to fix the problems, but in the in-between time you get to enjoy the relationship more now.

Learn the tools for living your dream life today in meditation or in the Thursday Living Well group.  If you’d like to explore this deeper with me, email me to set up a complimentary time at julia@thejolielife.com.