You were meant to fly!

I am sitting on the back veranda watching the sparrows as they fly to and from their nest. Soon the little baby birds will be ready to fly. They don't know it, though, until their parents push them out of the nest. Birds have such absolute trust in that their little ones will be able to fly, that they do not hesitate to push them out. And fly the little ones will as they were meant to. Nature provides such wonderful examples of how were were meant to live, for we humans, too, were meant to fly.

What does "flying" mean to you? What would your life be like if you believed you can fly; if you believed that you can manifest your dreams? I was talking with a friend the other day about how I decided to go on an Alaskan cruise, and how to me it was so important to give myself the permission to go because it meant that I was walking my talk about following our joy and believing that we can make out dreams come true, when she said: "...yes, for as long as we know what they are..." All of a sudden I realized that many of us do not even know what our dreams are. We have so gotten lost in our mundane survival modes that we have stopped dreaming; we have lost touch with our joy.

I found myself saying that the way to find our dreams again is to take notice of what gets our attention. When we feel a sudden excitement about something, we are connecting with joy; we are connecting with our dreams. It was only a week ago that I was scrolling through an email that I noticed a link to another site. What caught my attention was the heading: "You can get your book published by Hay House". Somehow I had always thought that I would send my book to Hay House first when it was time to get it published. And here was this course that Hay House was putting on for writers that would teach you all about how to get your book published, and it took place on a cruise boat!

I checked out the link and thought that the cruise was pretty neat and would be fun. However, I don't know that it even really occurred to me that I could go on this cruise. It wasn't until the next day, when I was talking to my partner about it, that I realised that I had automatically concluded that I could not go, without even giving myself a chance. All of a sudden I felt like I had let myself down. I then opened my mind up to the idea that I could go, and I got in touch with incredible feelings of joy and excitement. Isn't this what I had been talking and writing about, to follow your joy?! I felt I owed it to myself and all those that I was wanting to inspire that I go on this cruise. I felt it would open doors for me and shift a lot of energy. Even just the thought of going was already creating a huge shift for me!

I was so excited I could barely sleep that night. Yet, I woke up with all the usual doubts running through my head. What was I thinking I could spend that kind of money and just take off in less than two weeks, leaving my family and my work for a week just like that? I must have been dreaming... Fortunately I have a partner that was encouraging me to go, because he understood what this meant for me, so after talking with him some more about it, I connected with the wonderful feeling of joy again and felt very strongly that this was right for me. A couple of days later I had arranged the time off work and prebooked the cruise. Now it only depended on whether the travel agent would find a cabin mate for me so that I could go at an affordable price. Sure enough, the next day I got the confirmation that I could go; they had found a perfect cabin mate for me!

There were enough unknown factors along the way, from not knowing for a couple of days if I could get the time off work to not knowing if a cabin mate would be found, that it gave me the perfect opportunity to give the whole thing over to the Universe and trust that if all the details fell into place, I would know I was truly meant to go. At the same time, it gave me an opportunity to let go, knowing that it would be fine even if I didn't go. There is nothing as comforting as trusting your Higher Power to work everything out for you. When you do that, you can absolutely trust that everything will work out perfectly as it is meant to for everyone's highest and greatest good. And here I am, getting ready to go on this wonderful cruise in a week!

Looking back at my process, it is clear to me how often we may not even give ourselves the chance to follow our joy; how fast we bypass our joy by all the rational reasoning of why we could not possibly do what we would like to do. How often do we count ourselves out from wonderful opportunities that come our way? It may feel a little - or a lot - scary to stretch our wings and see if we could fly, but it is certainly well worth it. Think about it: would you rather just stay in your comfort zone, not experiencing anything new and exciting, or would you want to give yourself permission to discover new wonderful adventures that may be waiting for you? Life is a grand adventure, and if we are not following that which excites us, we will be missing out on a lot of fun!

Connect with your dreams. Let yourself be pushed out of the nest which has become the comfort zone. Chances are you have outgrown it! When the Universe gives you a nudge, jump to the opportunity. See where it will take you. I will be honest, for awhile I was almost hoping that I didn't get the time off work or that a cabin mate wasn't found for me, because then I could have stayed in my nest and not ventured out. This is not just a cruise for me; this is a statement to the Universe that I am serious about getting my book published! This is a writers' cruise! I must count myself in as a writer since I'm going... I am following my dreams: I have always wanted to write a book to inspire others.

In 1987 when I had just come to Canada, the very first inspirational, self-help book that I read was "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise Hay, published by Hay House. In 1988 Hay House had published three books. Now they are the biggest publishing house in North America for self-help books. I am going on a cruise put on by Hay House... What a wonderful opportunity! Not to mention that one of the participants has a chance to win a publishing contract with Hay House! How exciting is that! Also, on the cruise will be some of my all time favourite authors that have inspired me over the years, including Louise Hay! How could I not go?

This is what excites me right now, but I'm sure as you are reading this, you are not jumping up and down about having to go on this cruise as well, so here is my question to you: What excites YOU? If you don't know the answer to this question right away, don't worry, it will come. It will present itself if you pay attention to what comes your way and how you feel about it. Notice what catches your attention and what stirs you. Follow it; see where it takes you. Chances are, it will take you to your joy. And as you follow your joy, you will discover, or rediscover, your dreams. This is the beginning of their fulfilment. Dare to follow your joy and dare to dream big! The Universe has no difficulty in delivering your dreams to you - big or small. All you need to do is get in touch with them. How else can you find your wings and fly?