As the plane flies over the blue sea,
Suddenly, you see land and rivers and a patchwork of fields;
As the plane swoops down to land,
Small as an ant, you see people and farmland;
The plane lands and there’s excitement in the air,
There’s a stampede to exit the stair;
As you exit the aircraft, the smells envelop you,
Gathering you in their warm and humid hands;
That’s when you take a warm breath in the crowded aerodrome,
And you know….you’ve reached…. home!
All our dream can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them – Walt Disney
This is a quote from Walt Disney which really resonates with me – this is even my tag in some social media sites! So I decided to take this quote and see if I could write a blog post out of it.
Every human being has a dream – for some it could mean making lots of money, for others it could be as simple as a hot meal at the end of the day, but everyone does dream of something or the other.
But what do we do to ensure that our dreams do come true? Probably nothing more than sigh and keep it aside for another day. If you do not act out on achieving your dreams, then it is just that – a dream, an ephemeral thought, something that will never materialise.
But if you want your dreams to come true you need to do something about them, and not just as an “I will do this someday” (actually I as a world-class procrastinator should not be writing this, ever!)
I actually feel that to get out of your comfort zone and actually do something so that you are one step closer to achieving your dream takes a lot of courage. One is not sure at all if the steps you do to work on your dream will come true or not, or if you will fail spectacularly. But if you do not take the first step, you will never know if you can do it or not.
One of the most important aspects in ensuring that you reach and achieve your dream is to be persistent. Persistence is defined as “the quality that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult or opposed by other people”. Only if you persistently and with a single-minded devotion to the end goal work on reaching your goal, will you be able to achieve it.
Here are some steps which you can take to make sure you are able to reach your dream
Quantify your dream: Write out in detail what you want to do as well as the steps you need to take to achieve your dream. This will be a document which you refine as you go along life. Bring the document to life and update it frequently (at a pre-set interval) on the steps you’ve taken so far and the steps you need to reach.
Practice Positivity: Don’t get negativity discourage you. Let the naysayers negative thinking slide off you like water slides off a duck’s back. Reinforce your positivity on a regular basis and the universe will conspire to make sure you reach your goals. Believe in yourself and the fact that you can reach your goals
Visualise your dreams and successes: Dream with open eyes on what your achieved dream looks like. I’ve heard world-class athletes do a similar technique to constantly see themselves winning the race and seeing themselves on the winners’ podium, so if you see yourself as having achieved your dream and being part of that life then visualising it makes it more real.
Broadcast your dream: Do not keep the dream inside yourself, tell it to as many people as you can. Maybe one of these people to whom you’ve told your dream will come on board as a mentor or has some ideas which help you refine your own. Telling others also makes you accountable to doing something about your dream and taking steps to actually achieve it.
Work Hard on your Dream: Finally all these steps are of no use if you do not work hard on your dream. We’ve all heard of the saying that ‘little drops of water make a mighty ocean’, so even a tiny step taken today will lead to incremental benefits later in life. Whatever your life circumstance, make sure you spend some time every day to work on your dream.
All these steps are important to reach the goal you’ve set for yourself in life. Most importantly, enjoy the process of achieving your goal. Also when you reach the final goal you’ve set for yourself, give yourself a big reward for reaching there and pay it forward, help someone else achieve their dream!
Another month has gone by and I am still jobless! I did get an email from the not-for-profit organisation I wrote about last week letting me know that they are not considering me for the position I applied for. However, the person mentioned they have something I could do there and they will get back to me around the end of October. I also have another interview set up for later this week, but the position I applied for and the position I am interviewing for seems a bit different. They called me the other day asking for work samples – I wonder what kind? I’ve never been asked any before and I told them the work that I’ve done before all belongs to the companies I’ve worked for, I can’t show it to them without permission. I’ll just go for the interview, but have zero expectations here.
Other than that the week has been pretty mundane – housework and working on the blog is all that I seem to do these days. Am feeling depressed too with some money issues popping up now, especially with BB’s thread ceremony on the horizon. When we planned this, we expected to be comfortable, financially as I was still working and earning a decent pay cheque, but the contract ending was very sudden and not working 5 months down the line is making our savings reduce at an alarming rate!
Anyway, I am of the ‘glass is half-full’ camp and so believe that everything happens for a reason and that these testing times will go away soon….
Have a great weekend folks!
Honour – Elif Shafak
An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London
Internationally bestselling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and misunderstandings that follows the destinies of twin sisters born in a Kurdish village. While Jamila stays to become a midwife, Pembe follows her Turkish husband, Adem, to London, where they hope to make new lives for themselves and their children.
In London, they face a choice: stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in. After Adem abandons his family, Iskender, the eldest son, must step in and become the one who will not let any shame come to the family name. And when Pembe begins a chaste affair with a man named Elias, Iskender will discover that you could love someone with all your heart and yet be ready to hurt them.
This week was a good one I think. I started the week with news about a job I applied to and ended it with a small party at home to celebrate BB & GG turning 13!
I had applied to this position in the not-for-profit sector towards the end of the week before last. Last Sunday, while waiting for the children to come back from their grandma’s house, I idly went through my spam folder in my email and lo behold, the email from the person who advertised was there. I have no idea why it went to the spam folder and more bizarrely I don’t know why I checked that folder on that particular day because I almost never check the spam folder! I quickly wrote back and we agreed to a phone conversation on Tuesday which was the next working day (Monday was a public holiday in Singapore). I spoke to him and I may have convinced him enough that he wanted a face-to-face meeting soon. Since I was free, we agreed on the next day, Wednesday. We met just before lunch and contrary to what I usually encountered, he insisted we have lunch (I thought the most will be coffee somewhere) and we had quite an interesting conversation. I know he will be meeting/talking to other applicants and if I make the cut, I have to speak to a couple of advisors to the organisation before the final decision will be made. I also mentioned about my India trip and he brushed it saying the real work will start only from January, so it should be ok. I can use the time to read up and do research or visit partners. Salary also seems not to be a big issue. So now I am keeping all fingers and toes crossed as if this does not work out, I am going to take a hiatus from looking for a job till the new year. Usually, around this time of the year, people do not leave their jobs as this will affect their year-end bonuses as well as the annual wage supplement. I know I lost out on the contract position I wrote about last week because of my trip – the recruiter was nice enough to let me know the reason and not blow my away!
The poonal preparations are coming on fine and we got the cards from the printers last week. Later today, I am going with S and S’ mum to give the first card to the temple. Then I need to send a bunch to my parents and the rest need to be posted to people here and sent via email to others.
Have a great week folks!!
Memories and Such 