I’ve been getting a bit sentimental lately. Whether it’s reflecting back on when Jacob and I first got together or putting up my grandma’s silver Christmas tree, I’ve had some interesting memories surface this week.
One memory I thought I’d share with you has an analogy that encouraged me. I hope you find encouragement from what I’m about to share. The memory was triggered from a family day out.
Last Saturday, we all headed into Southbank for brunch to catch up with close friends before Christmas. After brunch all the kids headed into pool and I sat at the beach side, with Phoebe asleep in the pram. I could see the building landscape of Brisbane.
In between looking at my iPhone and the high rise buildings across the river, I thought about all my working years in the CBD. So many memories were created in the Brisbane CBD for me as a child through to my adult years as a plumber.
My first memory of having to go to the city alone was when I was 16. I was in grade 11 and I had to organise a week of work experience for myself in an area of work that I would want to pursue when I graduated.
At that time I was thinking of being a journalist and then decided to pursue a job in public relations and marketing.
Ironically when I had to organise my work experience, my dad had just finished the plumbing in a tenancy at Waterfront Place for the advertising company Mojo Partners. Dad had had meetings with the managers of the company when fitting off their tenancy. He was able to ask if I could do work experience with them and they said yes.
My dad was the foot in the door for my week of work experience. I was so excited to be working in the city at an advertising company. I wondered what campaigns I’d work on and would they use my ideas?
But I was also quite scared. Although I had driven with Dad into the city many times before , I was fearful about navigating my way from the bus stop to Waterfront Place.
To calm my anxiety, Dad drove me into the city and we walked from the Myer Centre to Waterfront Place. I made a note of the streets to walk down and visualized the buildings on each corner.
When I started to panic about not remembering the names of the streets, my dad gave me this reassuring advice. Look up and head towards Waterfront Place. All streets will lead into another street that will eventually get you to Waterfront Place. Don’t lose sight of the building, keep heading towards it and you won’t get lost.
Dreams are like buildings
My dad’s advice could be easily relayed to our dreams. Last week I shared my dream with Lisa from Random Acts of Zen. My dream of getting my book out of my computer and into the hands of a publisher to be published. The reason I started my blog was to build readers. And yet the book has been put on the backburner while I have been busy realizing other dreams like becoming a mum.
But that dream is still there and if I look up and ahead I can see where I’m headed and what I want to achieve. The road isn’t straight. There are streets that lead into streets that will eventually lead to my dream. There are a few different routes I can take to get there, but if I keep my eye on the dream, I know I will eventually get there. Dreams are like buildings. They don’t move, but we have to in order to reach them.
So if you are feeling overwhelmed about trying to achieve a dream or you’ve had to put a dream on the backburner while life throws a curve ball or two at you, remember to look up and ahead. Whatever route you decide to take, your dream will always be there, but you may have to settle with a few detours or scenic routes to reach your destination.
