by my experiment:
that if one advances confidently
in the direction of his dreams,
and endeavors to live the life
which he has imagined,
he will meet with a success
unexpected in common hours.”
Yesterday I gave you a task which was to make a list of the life you’ve imagined. Write down everything your heart desires including the things you may believe or know are impossible. Did you write your list? Well, I know it took a little work because I wrote a list too that I will share with you and then we will delve into the reality of living the life we’ve imagined.
The Imaginable List
I hesitated in publishing my list of imaginable dreams because it makes me definitely more vulnerable to criticism. However, since I do want my daughter to know my thoughts and feelings at this stage of life and because it might help someone else, I’m posting my list.
So here it goes…
The Redhead Riter’s List of the Life I’ve Imagined
- My parents to remain married and grow old together
- I would be married to one man my entire life
- Be pregnant and bear twelve children
- Alyssa to be healthy and happy her whole life
- To have romance like Cinderella and her Prince
- Alyssa would have romance like Cinderella and her Prince AND live happily together forever
- I also want Brittany to have romance like Cinderella and her Prince AND live happily together forever
- Alyssa’s some day husband will cherish and respect “her”
- Die in my sleep without pain
- A life where I didn’t have to live with financial worries all the time
- To write romance novels like Danielle Steele
- To have romance novels that I write be as popular as Danielle Steele’s novels
- Get rid of, repack and/or reorganize all my possessions
- Be super healthy until the day I die
- Work from home
- Mom to not suffer when she dies
- Mom to live to be very, very old, but healthy
- To have my own library like Belle in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”
- Live in a cabin in the mountains
- A new camera every time mine gets old or broken
- A new computer every time mine gets old or broken
- Never need to have a root canal, crown or implant
- An hour massage every day
- Be remembered after I die
- Everyone in my family will always be happy
- No more homeless or starving people
- I would own my own CPA firm
- I would have a doctorate in Psychology
- To do something that would add value to the world
- My diabetes, arthritis and thyroid disease would vanish
- The hair on my legs and pits would never have to be shaved again
- I would be naturally tanned if I so please
- I could eat whatever I want without gaining weight
- A six pack stomach and firm bicep
- That the “girls” would require a very full D cup!
- Time to be a full time college student again
- Sleeping at night would no longer be a requirement
- Own a black and white cow, a few goats, some chickens a lamb
- Plenty of time to knit, crochet, sew, embroider and craft
- My new website to be finished
- A new car every four years
- I want all the evil people with known or undiscovered crimes to drop dead all at one time
- With all the evil people gone, maybe that would enable us to have world peace
- Be able to have a huge party where all my internet friends could meet me and each other
- Bella, Alyssa’s puppy, would stop swallowing stuff that could kill her
- A beautiful singing voice
- Dad to still be alive
- To have danced with Scott
- A huge garden
- Lots of free time
When I issued the challenge, I had no idea that obtaining a list of fifty would be so tough! It took me quite a few hours of thought before I was satisfied with my imagined life.
My hopes, dreams and visions of what I feel would be a wonderful life have drastically changed over the years, but so have I.
Tweaking The Imaginable List
The next step is very easy. Mark off all the items that are 100% impossible. An example would be me giving birth to twelve children.
Then go back through and mark off the things that you can not really control such as “There will be sunshine every day from 6:00 a.m to 9:00 p.m.” Nope, I don’t think you can control that one.
The following is my list after tweaking.
- A life where I didn’t have to live with financial worries all the time
- To write romance novels like Danielle Steele
- To have romance novels that I write be as popular as Danielle Steele’s novels
- Get rid of, repack and/or reorganize all my possessions
- Work from home
- To have my own library like Belle in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”
- Live in a cabin in the mountains
- A new camera every time mine gets old or broken
- A new computer every time mine gets old or broken
- An hour massage every day
- I would own my own CPA firm
- I would have a doctorate in Psychology
- To do something that would add value to the world
- The hair on my legs and pits would never have to be shaved again
- A six pack stomach and firm bicep
- Time to be a full time college student again
- Own a black and white cow, a few goats, some chickens a lamb
- Plenty of time to knit, crochet, sew, embroider and craft
- My new website to be finished
- A new car every four years
- Be able to have a huge party where all my internet friends could meet me and each other
- A huge garden
- Lots of free time
My first tendency when it was time to delete items was to take off everything that “seemed” impossible like “An hour massage every day.” However, if I were “To have romance novels that I write be as popular as Danielle Steele’s novels” then I could afford that type of doting on my tired muscles, so I left it on the list.
Often we let the “realities” of life bog us down and limit our dreams. That in itself can hold us back from obtaining the successes that we long to achieve.
Your dreams and imagination are stronger than knowledge and reality. You’ve just made a long list filled with dreams of your imagination. Don’t let the screaming children, negative balance in the checkbook, flat tire on the car or broken refrigerator door handle overwhelm the imaginable list.
It isn’t a list of present uncertainties and realities!
I cut off a little over half my list. Tomorrow night, you will have your list tweaked and refined. Then we will discuss what is in between all the lines of your list.
go all the way.
Otherwise, don’t even start.”
~Charles Bukowski~
Oh, my dear blogger friend, let me tell you #7 is highly and completely OVER-RATED!!! Oh, the stories I could tell!!
{We've got to talk!}
And can I please sign up for #14, #15!!
And I would love to be included in #21!
Your pal,
KT
Hmmmm, I wonder if there are any that I can tweek off my list, I guess I'm not at the point where I'm ready to dream big enough to imagine the impossible. Alice, I'm not.
Heck, I sometimes wonder if it's possible to even make it to the end of the day without loosing my mind. I'm working on it :).
I got such a pleasant "kick" out of your list! I had to laugh over the one hour massage every day. If I got that, everything else would be impossible because I'd basically be a noodle. Aaaaaah, the joy of a daily massage. I cannot imagine. Aside from that, you and I share a lot of wants. 🙂
Lynn
I absolutely think you could write a book like Danielle Steele. Even better. I always love coming here.
That library was unbelievable in Beauty and the Beast, wasn't it?
A six pack. That would be so nice : )
Your list is awesome.
An Authentic Life, I will definitely announce # 21 when it happens, so you better be there!
Mel,
YOU CAN do it!!!
Honestly, the key is writing it down. We will do it all together, so just get it down on paper and I won't go too fast for you.
So you can just about copy my list Lynn? Wow, I should have had you write the list first and saved myself all that thinking LOL
I'm so ready for that massage every day. It wouldn't hurt if it was by a handsome man either (wink)
Life with Kaishon,
I love you for believing I could write a book like Danielle Steele and telling me that you always love coming here. That just really made my day. Thank you so much!
What a lovely imagineable list! I managed to miss your post, after deliberately setting your blog on my roll to see every day and I missed. Urgh! Anyhow, I think yours is wonderful. The daily message sounds heavenly. I think I'd be like Lynn, a noodle, and then nothing else will get done. Thanks for sharing this with us.
~Cathy Kennedy, Children's Author
The Tale of Ole Green Eyes
Read today’s posts:
Amazing Grace
Drop 15 Pounds In 2 Months
The D-cup is vastly over-rated!!! I am totally intrigued about "new website up" -????!!!!!!!!
Let's see if I can do a top 5)
1) Love the Lord my God with my heart mind and soul with all my heart until I breath my last breath.
2) That each son love the Lord their God with all their hearts and minds and soul until their last breath (if so, that means they will love their spouses and children that way, too). (If so, that means, too, that my sons will one day forgive me for being tough when they didn't want me to but needed me to)
3) Live another 50 years with my KISA (Knight in Shining Armor)- thank you God for answer my prayer and sending me the best!
4)Never give up being an optimist:)
Yeah – I'd like to get my book published (got thisclose). Yeah – I'd like to have had a dad who loved me. Yeah – I'd like to have those abs you talked about (with a C cup). Maybe because I was raised in a broken home, I learned to quickly sift through the dreams I needed to hold on to and the dreams I needed to let float away:)
I do want my life to be filled with
1) laughter
2) coffees and dinners with friends
3)Sunday afternoons with my family
4) a front porch to sit on with a swing so the grandkids can roller skate around me on a rainy day:)
OMG – you tricked me into wanting to do a post on this!