Dare to Dream?

Ah here it is, the winter snow in Sweden. Much like a British train, it has been expected but long overdue and late.

I sit here, with a coffee in one hand, a cake in another, and I am thinking about life, changes that come with it, and as we grow older how we adapt to change.

What is it about the fear of taking a risk or change in life?

The thought of what our family, friends or professional colleagues will think about us? Or maybe the feeling of being comfortable is something that we become conditioned to.

I can recall I was on holiday a few years ago when I saw a bungee jump, and there were a family they’re showing their interest. The boys were looking over the edge and thought they would like to do it, yet were looking into their father’s eyes. After all wasn’t he the one who was supposed to be the leader of the family? After around 15 minutes, the mother took the plunge much to the admiration of all around, and to the surprise of her husband.

If were in his shoes what would I have done? Possibly leapt but with my eyes tightly closed. But that is the question as we age do we risk change and fear more than we would have done in our late teens/early twenties?

Possibly the biggest change I have made in my life was to move to a new country. Of course, there were reasons, but the mere thought of moving to a country where the culture, pace of life, and language were vastly different still scares me even though I am here.

As the snow deepens outside, I pour my second cup of coffee. The eyes that peer out of the surrounding apartments here are like the glowing stare of rabbits waiting for spring to arrive. Just one of the strange things that I have become accustomed to here in Sweden since moving. The fact that nobody opens an apartment door if someone is walking down the stairs and people staring at you as you walk past them without saying hello.

Yet in this silence I find solitude. There is calmness about this country that I just cannot even imagine happening back home. The headaches of rush hour London are but a distant memory. The loudness of people in bars and cafes replaced by tranquil serenity that actually makes your own thoughts echo.

Yet there is the longing once more to take a risk. To throw the shackles from this harsh winter and just go and do something different.

I have always been something of a risk taker that is for sure. There is not much in life that I have or have not done. Not that this is something to boast about, but I believe that you only live once and that you need to get the most out of life whilst you can.

A few months back I was reading a blog of a friends daughter, she must be no older than 19. She decided just to go off backpacking around Asia on her own for three months. I caught the blog towards the end of the trip and could clearly see that she had grown from a small town Swedish girl to an experienced traveller.

All down to just taking that one risk.

Maybe as we get older the thought of change becomes less important, maybe we have missed our chance, or maybe we just need to find that inner courage.

We are two weeks into 2014 but already there is already something of a mundane and routine feeling about it. ”New Year, new life!” we all seem to cry as the midnight bells roll into a New Year. Yet soon the familiar ticking of the clock becomes the beat life’s symphony.

We can only change if we embrace fear, we can only be what we want if we are willing to let go of emotions and become what we were destined to be.

Dreams only happen once we let go of the fear of rejection.

Do you dare to dream?