Have you always yearned for something that never became a real part of your life? Maybe it was a physical thing or maybe an experience: to play piano in Carnegie Hall, to have your art displayed in a famous gallery, to bungy jump or climb Mt. Everest, or even to have the person who you loved love you back? Well, since I was 5 years old, my dream has been to build my own sailboat and sail it over the horizon and explore the world. I am an explorer at heart, and ships have always been my vehicle of choice since I was five years old growing up land-bound in the Midwest and my grandmother gave me a Texaco Tanker Ship model. That ship model woke up my explorer spirit and also became my most cherished possession (I still have it).
But one of my favorite sayings is, “life is what happens while you’re making other plans,” and I never manifest the boat or the voyage. Sure, like many of you I’m sure, I made a few halting attempts to squeeze the dream into my life, but it never quite fit with the other realities I chose.
Over the years, the dream has evolved as my life has evolved, but it has never gone away. I’ve even tried to disown or banish it (I will discuss that in future posts), but it always crept back into my wandering thoughts whenever I had a lapse of focus or consciousness. That could be at 3:00 pm after a work meeting or at 3:00 am in my restless sleep.
When I met my wife sixteen years ago and told her about this heart’s desire (as I started calling it thanks to my therapist – thank you, Anne!), my wife asked me, “if that’s your heart’s desire, why have you never manifest it?” Great question! My answers confused her and me, too, but eventually I came to understand them (I will also talk about those in future posts), but all kept me from allowing myself to actualize the dream.
Now, I am approaching retirement. When I hear warnings from my retired friends about preparing to be bored after a lifetime of work, I chuckle to myself. Silently, I am still thinking of that boat and the fact that, if I am ever going to claim my dream, now is the time. And there is absolutely nothing less boring and more exciting than thinking about, scheming, and planning how to build my boat and sail it.
What is your unfulfilled dream? I assume you have one if you are reading this. I am finally going to allow mine to become real, and I invite you to join me as I explore the process as well as the destination. It hasn’t come together yet, so how this will manifest is still an exciting mystery. Even so, I am casting off on this voyage of discovery – join me!
Building My Ship of Dreams 