I recently woke up from a dream where I was 22 again and going though a breakup with a boyfriend from college. (A definite communication from my past.) I was moving back home to California and he was staying in Missouri and in the dream, I experienced the pain of that breakup once again.
When I awoke, I lay in bed for a long time feeling those same feelings again. Always amazed by the power of dreams and past emotions, I asked myself, “just how much of that younger me do I carry around with me now?”
My answer: She’s always there. I just need to call her forward. A little concentrated inner focus and she’s available.
Your Past Communicates with Your Present
I’ve done a lot of thinking about what seemed to me to be a loss of my younger self. I looked at some pictures taken of me when I was young – wow, that face and body! I was appreciating the younger me through the eyes of the woman I am now. It caused me to feel and appreciate my life’s journey as I’ve never quite done before.
So many of us go though life’s ups and downs, all of the success and failure, without taking stock of how we have been able to survive.
Today I can say with confidence that I am very proud of what I have accomplished so far in this, my life. I hope that you can say the same for yourself.
By thoughtfully reflecting on and re-membering (letting a life-altering experience back into your body) you can have renewed access to the lessons learned and now, with the added wisdom and perspective of the person you’ve become, let it move you beyond fear, to future success!
Dream with Intention
How to go back to that younger you? Though difficult without some practice, it is possible to call forth a dream with intention. You can also just try and feel (re-member) the emotions that the younger you felt around an event, be it an awkward or embarrassing date. ..a poor job interview or a shining moment of achievement.
My intention in sharing these thoughts with you is to encourage you to explore the younger you and find a way to incorporate that youthful zest and emotion with the older wiser one.
Just think of it as an emotional bridge between past and present, a place where all the colors of you exist. This bridge will only add depth to your ability to express yourself , providing greater success as a speaker, presenter and communicator.
Past Experiences Guide Us Into the Future
As I continued the process of reflecting and re-membering, I realized that as a 22-year-old my passion for life had a lot more to do with the opposite sex than it had to do with a “life passion.” Remember that where you once were, thankfully, is not where you must remain!
I also tapped into how innocent and one-dimensional I was. I continued to explore my past as it flowed into the present and I was able to see and feel the sources and foundations of my passion for life, why I love helping others to discover their passions, often by connecting with their youthful selves.
I’m also looking at the difficult parts of my youth, how I handled them then – and how those experiences have affected my work today – and the role they will continue to play in my future success.
I guess it was part the dream and part coming into another year that initiated this journey into myself, but it was also the realization that so many people of the people I work with bring a lot of pain and fear when we start.
Fear of speaking and communicating doesn’t just suddenly happen to us when we’re older, it’s usually born in our youth. But by emphasizing the lively, joyful and positive emotions, as well as acknowledging the rough patches from your past, you can reshape that old fear, to work with it and through it!
In my book, Presenting YOU, it becomes easy to see that you really are the total of your life experience, so the inclusion of all that worldliness only serves to make you a more compelling and captivating speaker, presenter and communicator.