In Part 1 of this series I talked about the ways in which you may actually be living your dream life right now, even if it’s on a smaller scale than in your fantasies. The key is to notice what’s concrete about your dream life, and how you are incorporating that stuff into your life already.
Today I’m looking the same topic from the other direction: instead of taking fantasy world and getting all concrete with it, let’s take the concrete and pragmatic, and get all “pretend-world.”
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Some time ago I decided to experiment with pretending to live my dream life right now.
I’d been telling myself a story that I was too busy to do important things – things like getting together with friends, singing at jam sessions, going out to a show, playing my guitar and ukulele, taking care of myself by taking a nap… You get the picture.
Real, concrete things I wanted to do, but felt I “couldn’t.”
Oh, I’d make occasional dates for stuff like this, but usually with an anxious sense of “I don’t really have time for this!” And just as often I’d put off the dates, saying “not now, but later..”
Later, as in when I had finally my Dream Life: the one in which I had more time, less stress, a generally more-relaxed existence.
Which, of course, meant that I didn’t see my friends. Didn’t get to those jam sessions and shows, etc. etc. etc.
The story in my head said that I’d make time for those things later, when my business was all grown up. When I had more time.
At some point it occurred that this magical future in which I would have more time may never appear. Sure, my business will grow up, but to suddenly have more time? Not likely to happen, no matter what – the truth is, I love being busy. It’s in my nature.
When there’s a time void, I always manage to fill it…
So I decided to try an experiment
What if I pretended that I was living my Dream Life right now?
I already figured out that my constant feeling of overwhelm, of way-too-much-to-do-and-not-enough-time-to-do-it did not mean the sky was actually falling. It was actually just a feeling, which I could get used to being there, kinda learn to be at peace with.
So if stuff always gets done, no matter how overwhelmed I feel, maybe I could pretend I was already living that more relaxed existence. Pretend to already be living that Dream Life in which I’m able to make time for friends, family, relaxation, creative stuff…
And you know what? It worked.
That’s not to say that it’s always a piece of cake, but again, just noticing where I’d been tripping myself up, living according to a story in my head, helped me shift my perspective. I discovered that the Dream Life I believed was somewhere out there, in the future, can actually be part of my life right now.
Imagine that.
What about you? If you pretend your dream life is already here, what, specifically, will change for you? Share in the comments below.
