All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. ~Walt Disney

The mantra around dreams is, well, dreamy. It’s full of idealization and the idea that having a dream alone is enough to soar to new heights. Dreams can certainly inspire, but for many of us there is something else that stands in the way of us achieving them. It’s fear.

Dreams can be scary 

Beyond all the idealization, dreams can be downright scary. We’re told to dream big but what often comes with this is the feeling that our dream is too big to ever take on.

We don’t feel brave enough, ready enough or good enough and these feelings literally kill our dreams in their tracks. Before they can ever grow, mature and blossom we stop them with our fears.

These fears are natural. From a scientific perspective they are there to protect us. In the age of cavemen these feelings might have done well in protecting us from a wild beast ready to attack. These days though, they generally do more harm than good.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ~Mark Twain

Trapped by fear 

I’m happy to say that today I’m living my dream, but just a few years ago I was very much a member of the other camp.

I had a lot of dreams but my biggest by far was to live a creative life by starting my own fashion label. From where I was though, this dream felt too big.

I distinctly remember not feeling ready. I tried to overcome this feeling by doing what I could to prepare. I researched, planned and wrote lists upon lists to feel ready but for all my preparation years and months later I found myself no closer to my dream.

My feeling of not being ready was hard to shake because at the heart of it was fear.

I was scared that I would make mistakes, waste my hard earned savings or most paralysing of all, fail and end up back where I started.

You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith. ~Mary Manin Morrissey

Taking the plunge

After waiting in fear for almost two years I came to a point where the pain of standing still was worse than the fear I felt to act, and with that I took the plunge.

I quit my full time office job to start my own fashion label, not because I was brave but because I came to the point where it was the only thing left to do. Standing still had become more painful than taking action.

Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life. ~Wayne Dyer

My big realization

Once I took the plunge I realized that despite all my trepidation it was the best decision I ever could have made.

The last year for me has had its ups and downs but it has been one of the best years of my life because I am following my dream and living it every day.

I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve learnt. I’ve had low points, but I’ve come through them. And most of all, I’ve been scared but it hasn’t been nearly as scary as I had built it up to be.

Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Take action on your dreams and transform your life

Dreams can feel scary because they’re big, new and unknown, but for all their scariness they are also full of potential and have the ability to transform your life.

Don’t wait until the pain of standing still is worse than the fear of following your dream to take action.

You have everything you need within you right now, so take action on that big dream. You are brave enough, ready enough and good enough just as you are.

Source: Purpose fairy