I’m happy to have Dana Pittman here at Live Uncaged. In this post she talks about daring to dust off a dream. It’s a great reminder to all of us. Dana describes herself as a Spiritual Midwife…helping women give birth to their purpose. She’s a writer, speaker and Bible teacher, writing her next novel.  She blogs here. Hang out with her on Facebook. And follow her twitter life here.

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I have a dream tucked down deep inside of me. I’ve let her out, a time or two. But for the most part she stays hidden where I keep her safe.

I protect her from naysayers and negative comments. I shield her from criticism and unfortunately I hid her from myself.

My attempts to protect her meant I lost sight of her. Her likes, dislikes. Her goals. Her passion. I lost sight of the very part of myself that made me uniquely me.

How, oh how, did I let this happen?

Life.

Too many “no’s” tossed my way. They landed on my heart and decided to ride shotgun with my dream. She fought it initially, however, my shaky courage refused to make them leave.

So, they stayed. They chipped at her, slowly but surely, until I can’t feel her like I once did. But I want her back.

In her absence, I feel this icky void and I don’t like it. She made me laugh and wish. She helped me remember all the plans I made while laying on my back starring at fluffy clouds in the sky.

Yeah, I miss her. And it’s time to win her back.

Here’s my plan:

1. Pray. I believe God planted my dream but I blame her less than stellar appearance on myself. I tried to do things my way, which did not fair too well. This time I will seek God. I will ask for understanding, discernment and for Him to order my steps.

2. Write the plan. “Write down the revelation and make it plain…” (Habakkuk 2:2). I won’t require every single detail to move forward; however the plan is the roadmap. It will help me keep my vision clear and visible as I endure the coming months of moving from my comfort zone.

3. Action. I have to actively pursue my dream. I love the quote, “Action conquers fear.” Action is a positive force to counteract any negatively that may threaten to derail my progress.

4. Prioritize. I will prioritize my dream with all of the other important details of my life. My dream is not a hobby. That was my initial mistake. I fit her in here and there until she was permanently shelved.

Question: What steps do you take to realize your dreams?