Several months ago I had a dream – it was short but powerful.
I dreamt that I was outside of Target in front of the big red concrete balls. I was circling around the red ball and I knew that I was going to pick it up and put it on my shoulders. Then I heard a voice say, “you don’t understand, look!” All of the sudden the Target ball turned into a big red balloon, I held the string in my hand and the balloon flew up to the sky. The same voice said, “You hold the string, you can take it where you go”. The dream ended.
It was so vivid that it seemed like a message. I started thinking about what it meant. I learned that concrete Target balls weigh about a thousand pounds. If I had managed to lift a Target ball up on my shoulders, it would have crushed me. I started making a list of what I called “target ball feelings”. They included feelings like: burdened, drained, exhausted, overwhelmed, weighed down, worried, resentful and worn out. I was amazed at how often I had “Target ball” thoughts, feelings and actions. Of-course with all those heavy thoughts and feelings, I was truly burdened. One of my favorite phrases is “Water what you want to grow”, and I was really watering these burdened feelings. In “The Beautiful No” Sherri Salata talks about wearing ruts in your mind the size of the Grand Canyon. I definitely had some pretty deep ruts and I was wearing them deeper constantly.
I found that I couldn’t go to these new “Red Balloon” thoughts instantly. I started paying attention and any time I started to feel heavy or weighed down – I offered myself a new thought – which was either “I don’t do heavy anymore” or “this thought is not helpful”.
Before I knew it, I was recognizing the feeling and stopping it before it could even get started. This felt like such a positive change in my life. I love giving up this unhelpful mindset. It didn’t happen overnight, it took a while and I am still working on it, but it feels amazing to let go of many things I saw as heavy burdens.
I am learning to recognize what I call “Red balloon moments” and the feelings that accompany them. Energized, committed, confident and joyful are becoming my new “go to” feelings. I am on the look-out for fun ways to approach life and all the things I want in my future. There is more laughter in my life and a lot less worry, as a matter of fact there is a lot more love in my life.
I am slowly wearing new grooves in my brain however they aren’t very deep yet, so I must consciously work on practicing these new thoughts. I love these new feelings and I am starting to see red balloons everywhere, and I am having more and more red balloon experiences.
What about you? Do you have Target ball or Red Balloon experiences in your life? Perhaps it is time for a change?
