Have Hope, Dare to Dream

If you have the opportunity, a great book to read is “Love, Miracles, and Medicine” by Dr. Bernie Segal. He helped people with advanced cases of cancer heal and sometimes without medical interventions. He advocated having the desire to live. There aren’t a lot of clinical books on the value of hope, but with hope, we can suffer through a lot and make it to the other side.

In the book, “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Victor Frankl, he gave his account of when he survived living in a concentration camp. He saw people lose hope and die, while others that had some reason to live survived.

What do you have to live for? Think about it. What would be amazing to experience? Many people have given up on dreaming and focus on the day-to-day of life. Then let me ask you the miracle question. If some miracle took place and you could obtain what you wanted, what would that be?

Benjamin Franklin said: “If we fail to plan we plan to fail”, it can really be that simple. If there is nothing to live for, then we will scramble around and more than likely do the same old thing. What do you want? A grand vacation? A relationship? To learn a different language?

This was a question asked in a graduate writing exam. In fact, my younger sister and I took the test at the same time and compared notes afterward. Wouldn’t you know that we both wrote about wanting to learn how to play the piano? Amazing. 

What do you want? Once you have your goal, all that is needed is making incremental little steps towards achieving it each day.

Many fail to plan because they are afraid of failing. It is as if they feel in life you have one shot and if you fail that is it. Trust me, life is all about trial and error. If we are not failing, we are not growing.

Dr. Bernie Segal was actually the graduate speaker for my graduate school. He wished pain upon everybody. Odd don’t you think? He believed that when people were in pain, they were motivated for change. Instead of having pain motivate you, it is easier to take simple steps instead.

Dare to dream. Do things that you thought would be fun. If not, try something else. We aren’t going to be alive forever which is another motivator. Without death, we would take our sweet time because we could. With an expiration date, it’s better to get cracking at something so you can experience more time doing it.

I am in the process of doing something I’ve wanted to do for years. I’ve written self-help books and some documentaries of the interesting things I’ve gone through but never wrote a fantasy novel. I had the pleasure of growing up across the street from Ray Bradbury, a science fiction writer. Ray was an inspiration and I always wanted to write a fantasy novel to impress him. Even though he has been dead a few years that desire is still within. So, each day I have written a little here and there. When inspired I write a lot here and there and am popping out, maybe not a Fahrenheit 451, but something pretty cool, I must say.

Following your desires becomes the key. Try it. Follow your wishes and see how far you can go before you fail. Then to get back up and keep going. Failure comes along with the journey. Once you learn how to stomach the failures and know they don’t define you, then you can continue to follow the path till you obtain it.  

I’ve learned to lean into something with hope. Often people will try new things, give their power to others, and wish that other people will praise their efforts and fear rejection. If we lean into anything in fear, the odds are you won’t obtain your desire. If you lean in with the belief you will obtain something great, it increases the odds for success!

Dare to dream, have hope, lean into something, and then have fun with the process.  

Compassionate Care is Always Available

There are many more tools and strategies you can use in your pursuit of happiness. Here is where we come in. Contact us at Basic Steps Mental Health and let us support and educate you on this journey back to your loving heart center. Imagine living a heart-centered life, regardless of what is happening externally. We’d love to be of help.

For 25 years, Dr. Scott Alpert, the clinical director of Basic Steps Mental Health, has treated over 7,000 people with mental health and addiction problems, using a Psychological approach that mixes and matches ten of the top approaches used in the industry.  We are here virtually and in-person to help you get through this COVID-19 pandemic and many other difficulties you may be experiencing.

May you have good mental health.