"Living the Dream"

“Living the dream”…what does that really mean?  Does it mean now?  Does it mean later?  Does it mean financial success?  Does it mean doing what I love?  Does it mean fulfilling what you feel is your life’s purpose?  Does it mean having things you’ve dreamed of owning?  What does it mean?  What does it mean to you?  “Living the dream”, to me, means that I’m happy.  It means overall, that I’m happy with who I am, and what I know and with “where” I am.  It means to me that I can appreciate many aspects of what-is, while expecting and wanting more.  It means that there’s always more to dream about, that I’m always going to be discovering new things about myself and new things about those people around me and new things about my world.  It means that as I move through time, I can, and most likely will, adjust my preferences about what I want and who I am.  But mostly, it means being happy about where I stand, appreciating as much as I can, knowing that I have the ability to choose, and enjoying the ride along the way and not having it be about some future experience before deciding to be happy.  Don’t get me wrong, I like thinking about things in the future that bring me pleasure now, but I also want to enjoy now without “wishing” my life away to some future moment.  Living the dream, to me, is about the journey, every day; the discovery, every day; and not rushing to some perceived “end”.  Living the dream, to me, is how I’m using my now, whether I’m using my now to “dream” about something that hasn’t yet happened, or using my now to set goals that thrill me, or using my now to think about some past experience that pleased me, or using my now to focus on something or someone in my present that is pleasing to me.  It’s using my now to feel good, and living that dream in my mind, in my heart, in my beingness, even if the dream hasn’t come to full fruition.   It’s what I do with my nows that make me feel like I’m living my dream in every moment.  Am I always “living the dream”?  Am I always happy?  Am I always focused on what I would prefer and on what feels good?  Absolutely not!  But that’s all part of it too.  That’s all part of living the dream, because without feeling less than good, I wouldn’t know what feeling good feels like.  And without some experiences and some focus on what I don’t want, I wouldn’t be so clear or precise about what I do want.  Living the dream isn’t about perfection, but rather it’s about finding ways to allow myself to stand where I am, feel how I do, knowing that from this place all is well and it’s always unfolding as I continually re-define the dream and what I want my life to be.