Is Dreaming Still an Option?

Just before 2019 ended, I wrote my blog “What does it take to follow our dreams?“, where I mentioned that our family keeps a tradition of writing our intentions for the up coming year and revisiting them again by the end of the year, while setting new intentions further.

Then, 2020 began…

Reordering every familiar sense of security for so many of us.

I am pretty sure that none of us had the courage to dream the realities we have experienced through 2020…

By the end of 2019, we drafted our intentions for 2020, as we always do, but never got the chance to print them out to hang them on the wall. This process kept being delayed with different excuses until the drafted papers had mysteriously vanished, and we cannot find them anywhere now. 2020 turned out to be a missing year on our intentions wall, as no one of us remembers what we wrote back then on that paper.
Could this mean that none of our dreams would be possible to be achieved?

Or could this be a blank offering from universe which provides us with an open proposal containing endless opportunities, none of them limited to our personal thinking? And could dreaming be still regarded as an option within all the challenges we are encountering?

2020 has presented us with many challenges, rising from dealing with the unknown: uncertainties about basic security needs, health, money & human relationship concerns, fears, anxieties, limitations and many other issues as well.
During the summer of 2020 (and still continuing now), Rabbi Avrohom Susskind from Chabad Jewish Center of Novi, a very wise man who seems to say exactly what I need to hear every time he speaks, has been offering “Jewish Caffeine for the Week”, discussing weekly topics corelating to the Torah portion of the week. One of the topics, while we were still in quarantine was about the challenges we are encountering this year. Rabbi Susskind mentioned that the best way to overcome a challenge is by rising above it.

According to Rabbi Susskind, rising above the challenge is an acquired skill that requires a routinely practice of reflection. Practice of stopping our daily runs and tapping into our soul. By taking a pause from our busy schedule, we can reflect on our soul and understand what is really important to us. We can understand what has real value in our lives, and what is just a distraction. When we understand this differentiation between what’s important and what’s not, we will be less overwhelmed by any challenge that presents itself to us. When we regularly tap into our soul, we go slowly through a process of spiritual growth which activates our inner energy, giving us the permission and power not allow the challenge to define who we are.

With all the challenges that 2020 has presented us, this year also offered us this rare opportunity to stop everything and tap into our souls. Reflecting upon the differentiation between what we perceive as important and what really is. Reflecting upon what will serve us on our healing journey and what will just interfere. Reflecting upon our real selves – who genuinely we want to be.

This year we have been required to lower our social commitments, which threw many of us far away from our comfort zone. And yet, could this have been an opportunity to review our list of friends and make priorities according to our needs? Could this have been a window for us to discover nature, which many of us were too busy to benefit from the outdoors before? Could we have been granted a rare wonderful gift – the gift of reflection? The price of this gift might be on the higher scale, but would we really appreciate this gift if we would not have to invest so much effort receiving it?

2020 had provided me with a lot of time to do NOTHING (explained in my blog – What makes us care so well for others but much less well for ourselves). Few years ago, when I started to do NOTHING for a whole hour every morning, It was astonishing to notice how, by the end of the day, I managed to finish all my planned tasks much faster and much more efficient than I did before. I became more focused. I started to understand priorities. I understood what really requires my attention and what is just noise. I also realized that only when I learned the art of doing NOTHING I discovered that I exist.

Extending the time of doing NOTHING this year allowed me to deepen my understanding of my wishes and dreams. One of the most profound revelations for me was to realize that when I create a vision or a dream about the reality I wish to live in, I do not invent anything new. I simply open my eyes to see the opportunities universe has to offer me. And by allowing my eyes to open, I allow these opportunities to enter my life. These opportunities are waiting patiently for me, for the moment I will take the time and permit myself to seek for them. Understanding that every wish and every dream, that I dare visioning, is real, made me realize that the only thing that can stop those dreams from happening are my own closed eyes. My own closed eyes are the only thing which can stop my dreams of coming true!!! So why, on earth, would I want to keep walking with my eyes closed?

Opening my eyes to see a reality that I wish to live it, makes my life a great place to be in. This does not stop challenges from presenting themselves to me. This does not color every life event in bright light. But it does make my life authentic and real: allowing myself to experience the full range of human emotions without the need to hide my feelings, allowing myself to say YES to what feels right for me and to say NO when it does not resonate with my needs, and allowing myself to follow my intuition regardless of how it is perceived.

Embracing this phenomenal opportunity, which has been offered us this year, to start deepening our understanding of ourselves and start learning how to allow ourselves to accept who we are without judgement, may help us shift the energy and intentions we invest in any challenge.
Deepening the connection to our own selves can help us find the courage to open our eyes to the reality we wish to live in. The choice to open our eyes or to keep them closed is ours only. This choice has no dependency on anything around us. Ant yet, this choice is so influential that it has the power to establish our willingness to invest the energy to rise above and create an opportunity out of any challenge we encounter.

And yes, a castor oil pack would be imperial in this whole process……

May we allow 2021 to be as powerful as 2020 has been! May we allow our eyes to open and our hearts to receive all the opportunities universe has to offer, including those we ever dare to dream possible! And may we all enjoy everything we allow ourselves to see!!

Happy Holidays to us all!!!!

Happy, Healthy and Dreamy 2021!!