One of the great benefits of teaching classes is the growth I get personally when preparing for and teaching a class. This month's class was no exception. In this month's class, Living Your Wildest Dreams, students explore their personal dreams and release limitations which get in the way of their dreams becoming reality.

When Ken and I started preparing for this class in August, I asked myself "What are my dreams?". Since I'm a dreamer at heart, identifying my dreams was easy. Starting small, I want to spend more time in nature. Getting wilder, I've long dreamed of giving up my corporate America day job and focusing on my spiritual healing and teaching business. On the really wild side, I want to write and publish a book.

The obvious next question was "Why are these just dreams instead of reality?". This one was a bit more difficult to answer, but with a little thought, I identified a healthy list of excuses. 1. I live in Denver rather than Boulder, so nature is a little too far away. 2. I have a full time job, so I don't have time to spend in nature anyway. 3. I'm not an author, and I don't have time to learn how to get a book published. 4. I can't give up my day job because I need the money. 5. I have stock options which might be worth money some day, so it would be foolish to quit my job. 6. I need my job to pay my mortgage and child support. 7. I just got done fixing up my house, so I should stay in it to enjoy all the work I've done. 8. I'm over leveraged on my house, so I can't sell it even if I want to. 9. If I sell my house now, I'll miss out if house prices go up. 10. I can't sell my house because my daughter might miss it. (She visits me 4 times/year.) And so on...

This fine list convinced me! My dreams were foolish, irresponsible, and greedy! Unfortunately, I still wanted them, and thinking about them made me want them more. And, how can I teach others to embrace their dreams if I can't do it myself? So, I rolled up my sleeves and started arm wrestling with my excuses. Together they seemed pretty strong, but individually they turned out to be rather weak. As I chipped away at them over the next month (come to class to learn how), my dreams started feeling more possible.

Then suddenly, after years of ignoring my dreams, I woke up one morning and said "I'm selling my house." I didn't know what that would accomplish, but at least I would be in motion. I contacted my friend Dave who is a realtor, planned to meet him in a week, and began feverishly fixing everything that "had to" be fixed before I could sell the house. Fortunately, the next week, my friend gently pointed out that all I really needed to do was put a sign in the yard. We looked at comparable houses in the area and realized that my house was worth considerably more I thought. Ten days after deciding to sell, I was on the market. I planned to move to Boulder to be closer to nature and shorten my commute.

A week later, Ken and I headed to a conference in Sedona, AZ. Driving into town, I was awed by the beauty of the area. Over the next few days, I admired the life style of the small town and was overwhelmed by support and interest for my spiritual thoughts and abilities. I even attended a seminar on writing and publishing a book. By the third day, I made up my mind to move. My heart was drawing me to Sedona. Now all I needed to do was sell the house. Within an hour, Dave called to tell me of an offer on the house. In the next few hours, we negotiated, agreed on terms, and my house was under contract for more than I thought was possible. I realized I could put the extra money in the bank to cover my child support. Combining that savings with my reduced living expenses meant I could cut my income in half. So, I did. Exactly 3 weeks after deciding to sell the house, I decided to cut my job in half and move to Sedona.

By simply releasing my fears around having my dreams, I stumbled into a situation where I would be close to nature, have time to enjoy it and to write, have support for my spiritual business, and even keep a stable income source. No wonder the class is called "Living Your Wildest Dreams!"