Are you pregnant (with a dream)?
I’ve heard references to a vision or dream for your life or business like being pregnant. If this is true (which I believe it is), it means you must give birth to your dreams and ideas to see them come to life.
This could be your actual business. It could be a new division in your business. It might be building or remodeling a studio space.
Your dreams may relate more to your personal life – having a family, moving closer to home, getting out of debt.
Birth is hard.
For all of you mothers that headline is an understatement.
I am a father to 4 children. I have watched and supported my wife through all 4 of these pregnancies and births. I observed the obvious. Pregnancy is hard. Labor is difficult.
Your dream is no different. Seeing your dream come to life will be hard.
That’s not all. Here are 6 other parts of a birth your dream will experience:
1. Births are messy.
Television and movies are doing a better job of depicting what a brand-new newborn looks like, but nothing prepares you for the real thing. It’s impossible to be ready to see your bloody, mucus-covered, purple and blue, alien-looking child.
Your dream coming to life will be messy too. It won’t play out to plan. It will be alternately better and worse than you expect.
Life will be scattered as you attempt to juggle everything else on top of your new idea.
2. Births are extremely hard.
I said this above, but it’s worth stating again. Living your dream is not just hard for you. It’s hard for all those around you.
My wife worked the hardest during each of her 4 labors, but she wasn’t alone. I was there coaching, comforting and helping. Her mom was there. There was a nursing staff. There were doctors.
Your dream will take a team. They may only be bystanders offering support and encouragement, but it’s hard on them. They worry. They miss you when you put in long hours. They pick up the slack in other areas of life and business.
3. Births are painful.
Stating the obvious again. The delivery of a baby hurts. It’s uncomfortable before. It is extremely painful during. It hurts after.
Your dream will cause pain in your life. It will cause you to question your gifts and abilities. It will make you wonder if you are out of your mind.
Your dream will also stretch your finances. It may take more money than you expected. It will slow down your income at times. That hurts.
4. Births are scary.
For the most part, each of our children came without complication. Our last child, Beale, was a little more difficult. He ended up coming out just fine without problem, but for a short time during the delivery he wouldn’t turn the correct way. There was talk of emergency surgery.
I was scared.
When you invest all your emotion into a project you will be scared. Here are a few things that will scare you:
- your dream will die
- you won’t make money (or worse lose money).
- you’ll look foolish.
- you’ll fail.
You will be scared of any number of things. Some times you’ll be so scared the fear will lock you up.
5. Births are worth it.
Despite the last 4 points, people continue to have children. Why? Because the pain, fear, mess and hard work is all worth it.
Kia explains the amazing sense she gets within hours of labor being over. Despite all it takes to get that baby out. Despite how she swears she will never do it again. Despite everything, she is ready for another within hours and minutes of the delivery.
Your dream is worth it. Seeing it come to life, build and grow is unbelievable. And…
6. The child birthed is all yours.
Knowing the child you hold in your arms is yours, belongs to you, is unbelievable. It’s quite indescribable.
The hard, messy, painful, scary work of creating your dream is worth it. Why? In the end, it’s yours.
The imperfections you can overlook (and work on in the future – your dreams…not your kids). They don’t matter. It is yours.
So do the hard, scary, messy, painful work of giving birth to your dream. It is so worth it to hold your dream.
Now available in The Collective Shop – Amy’s Hand Drawn elements!
These 50+ elements were inspired by the simple artistic style found in Shel Silverstein books and drawn by hand. This entire collection was created with enough variety to fill a custom book design or to create a series of greeting cards that are similar in style, but still unique to each client.
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