Gail believed in her BIG dream of becoming a freelance writer. She dedicated two hours a day to her craft and was writing a book of short stories. During her day job as an accountant, she envisioned herself living a passionate life in her home office writing away full-time. Ready to take the next step, Gail was excited to leave her high prestige accountant position in order to write a novel that she had been developing. She had saved up an impressive amount to cover her expenses for one year. So you can imagine how thrilled she was that she finally was ready to take the bold move and live her dream. 

She was so ready to live the writer’s life. She shared it with her family, her friends and her co-workers. Gail expected kind and supportive words. Instead, she was hugely disappointed as she received reactions of bewildered surprise with comments such as:“Can’t you just write in your spare time?”“But you have a REAL job and you’re so good at it!”“But you have a degree from one of the top Business Schools!”“Writing? Isn’t that JUST a hobby?”“You are a good writer but you’re excellent as an accountant.”“You mean throw it all away for a whim?”“Aren’t you worried about failing?”

Each of the comments reflected fear, guilt or lack of boldness. They each truly believed that they were protecting her from failure, when they were not honoring Gail’s true self.When I first met Gail, she was filled with doubt that she had accepted from well-meaning family, friends and co-workers. Being a “pleaser,” she wanted approval from everyone.

What Gail did not realize is that she had envisioned her dream, prepared for it and was ready to make it happen. She did not NEED anyone else’s approval.I reminded Gail that her dream was hers alone and that sometimes the closer one gets to their BIG dream, the bigger obstacles seem to be. Her dream was very special and should be honored. Mostly, her writing dream needed to be protected until it was ready to stand strong against the turbulent “winds and sea” of the world. I asked her if she would be able to honor her dream and keep it private except for with her writer’s group until she felt that her dream’s “roots” were firmly grounded.

With the photo of the Lone Cypress tree which stands strong and tall, she was to remember that it became that way because of being protected from the elements.

Six months later, Gail was ready to leave her accounting job for good. She told friends, family and co-workers with such passionate conviction that they were supportive. Her language and tone did not allow for criticism and fears placed upon her. As for the others that she knew would be critical? She noted that mostly all of them had been filtered out of her life in the six months or she simply did not tell them.She was ready to take the big step to her BIG dream. And that she did.Today Gail is a full-time freelance writer and IS living her BIG dream. The respect she has for herself is incredible. She still gets flak from some people but she has built a resilient shield around her BIG dream. And each day she is fulfilled as her BIG dream thrives.

© Copyright 2007 Cara Alana

Technorati Tags: Protecting Big Dream, Writing Dream