Take a breath...

We all have something that we are aspiring to, whether it is a job or a romantic connection or losing weight, we all have things in our lives that we want to achieve. So, as a result we are looking forward all the time. We are looking to see how long we still have to go, we are looking forward to all the appointments we are going to, we are looking at what still needs to be done. Very rarely do we realise that last week today was the future and last week we knew we were going to accomplish something by today. So, I urge you to STOP and take a BREATH and look at what you have accomplished already.

9 months ago I was no longer a teacher but I was at the beginning of my journey to becoming a freelance writer. About two months ago I stopped and took a breath and realised that I was writing and earning money and I was, in fact, living my dream.

What an amazing feeling that was and I would not have felt that if I had not stopped for a moment and looked, not into the future, but into my present. I used to day dream a lot about how I imagined my life but now I go to bed and I dream about my reality and when I wake up I live that reality and my dreams are merely little voices in my head that gently call to me every now and again. I don't live in that dream any more, that dream lives in me.

Yes, I still have many things that I want to achieve but I cannot achieve them if I am not being active in my reality. I believe that only three things can make you lose your way - firstly, if you only ever look to the future and the present becomes your dream, secondly, if you only complain about your present and your future is nothing but a dream that helps you sleep at night and lastly, in the words of Paulo Coelho, "Only one thing makes a dream impossible: the fear of failure."

Dreams (aspirations) should just act as goals, they are not to be lived in. Your reality can only be a success if your dreams live in you and you live in the present.