Creating belief in your dreams

Once you know what your dreams are, you can begin to take baby steps to watch these dreams come to life. As with planting a seed, you don’t always know what is happening under the soil, but one day, you take a look and see a tiny shoot.  This shoot then grows into a grand plant – one that often exceeds the vision you had before you planted it.  Dreams work the same way.  As long as we hold the vision and continue to take small steps towards our dreams, we are constantly nurturing those dreams.  Through that nurturing, they always thrive – perhaps not on theToday is a good day to realize your dreams timeline we may like, but always on the best timeline for our beings.

The first step is clarifying the “why” of your dreams.  When you know why your dream is important to you, no one can ever tell you that it doesn’t matter.  When you feel discouraged, your “why”  is what keeps you going.  Your “why” is not the superficial reason that you first think about – that version can easily be let go of.  Rather, it is the reason that makes this dream burn in your heart; the fire and passion that makes your dream meaningful to you.  Look at the dreams you have written down.  Now go deeper on each dream and ask yourself what your “why” for each dream is.  This will also assist you in clarifying which dreams matter the most, and ensure that every dream on your list is really yours, and does not arise from external influences.

Next, what is the one thing you can do each day towards your dream?  Perhaps it is something small like research – you may want to start a folder with pictures, ideas and other brainstorming.  You may want to create a vision board or journal and collect images, or write about your dream. Perhaps you can take bigger action steps such as talking to people, or if it is a project, adding a set amount of time each day to work on your dream project. 

Any step you take towards your dream, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, is a step forward.  All these little steps eventually add up to leaps of progress.  If you only spend five minutes a day moving towards your dream, you are still moving forward.  Can you take five minutes each day to just think about your dream in an inspired way?

Often the steps we take cannot be measured or quantified. We may feel as though no progress is happening and begin to feel discouraged about continuing.  If we can push through this, we start to see results of all the time and energy we put into the dream. 

What one action will you take towards your dream today? How much time can you devote towards your dream every day?

Many Blessings

Santa

RUNNING THROUGH DARKNESS
MEMOIR OF A SPIRITUAL WARRIOR

BY SANTA MOLINA-MARSHALL ‧ RELEASE DATE: MAY 3, 2022

This debut memoir chronicles a woman’s spiritual exploration and growth as she overcame a disturbing childhood and helped others heal.

Brought to America from the Dominican Republic as a youngster, Molina-Marshall should have led a happy life. Her father was a diligent worker, and his large family wanted for nothing. But the author recounts that her dad had a drinking problem and was a serial philanderer. Molina-Marshall’s long-suffering mother left him for a woman. Then it was all downhill for the bright, 12-year-old girl, who was shuttled between foster care and relatives. According to the author, she was sexually abused by the husband of one of her siblings. This resulted in Molina-Marshall becoming alienated and moody. By 15, she simply tried to survive. In her favor were grit and a restless intelligence. She quit school, rented a room, and found a factory job. Time went by, and for a while she was happily married. Yet when her husband left her, her life truly began. She turned to religion for answers but decided that blaming God for her woes was a cop-out. 

In this absorbing and moving memoir, Molina-Marshall’s vivid storytelling is fearless. She frankly discusses the truths she discovered and the indignities she suffered. These admissions are disclosed with a touch of resignation and plenty of bite. However painful, everything she experienced was a lesson, and she bravely realized that she was part of the problem: “The fear of being hurt, rejected, or abused often led to me feeling lonely and misunderstood. No one knew the agonizing pain I felt being trapped in my thoughts and anger. I was becoming my biggest threat.” 

The author skillfully recounts her intricate spiritual journey. To deal with her psychic wounds, she searched for an inspirational system. Her open-mindedness led her to the interfaith concept—cherry-picking from various religions and spiritual movements, yoga, and Indigenous beliefs as a way of finding peace. Along with her female partner, she built a therapy practice, making use of every spiritual element that aided her and others. The road was bumpy, and she found that women of color in same-sex relationships were not welcomed everywhere. To do good works—and finally live on her own terms—she effectively overcame bigotry.

An engrossing, cathartic account of empathy and success through determination and confidence.

Pub Date: May 3, 2022   |    ISBN: 978-0-578-38315-6  |   Page Count: 264    | Publisher: From Trauma to Triumph  |   Review Posted Online: June 13, 2022