dreams | Karin Volo

As I am leaving my youngest to attend University on the other side of the planet, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic and have been reflecting over my five decades and how there are so many different phases we go through in life.

I see my young daughters entering their twenties filled with hope, dreams, and goals for the future. They have their whole lives ahead of them and are filled with confidence but also a sense of trepidation of heading into the unknown. I remember those times very well and felt the same way. I’ve read that our brains are fully developed at 25 and after that age is when we tend to get our stuff together and become mature adults. And your relationship to your children will change at that time.

Recalling my thirties, it was all about having babies and raising young children. There wasn’t much free time for myself as I was focused on providing a good life for my family. I often talk to young moms and tell them to enjoy their babies and young children while they can because it goes by so fast!

In my forties, my life was about balancing career, getting “ahead,” and still very much focused on my family, but dealing with different problems that come along with the teenage years. It has been a pretty turbulent time with lots of ups and downs, twists and turns.

As I’m heading into my fifth decade now, with children leaving home to venture out into the world, I suddenly find I have much more time for myself. Running a women’s executive network has also shown me that many women at this age actually step into their power. They no longer have all their focus on their children and have a lot of energy to use all their experience to make a positive impact in the world.

And I am watching and learning from friends in their sixties as they are witnessing their young adult children finding their way, make their marks in the world, and especially the miracle of grandchildren. They are so enjoying this stage of life!

The one thing I’ve learned is that you must enjoy each phase of life as it comes. Be aware that it will change eventually so be as present as you can now in each stage.

I am so grateful I was able to take the time to help get my daughter settled into her new home far away from home. I’m so proud of both of my daughters and how they are venturing out into adulthood. And I see the cycle about to repeat as well with them. From my perspective now, it’s time to be there in the background supporting them if they need it and also cheering them on to find their brilliance in their own way.

Life is truly what we make of it. Yes, there are immense challenges at times but when we can see how we grow and learn from these, it gives us a sense of accomplishment to know we can handle whatever is thrown our way. Enjoy each phase of your life! Because once it’s gone, it’s gone. Be inspired by where you are now…and make the most of it while you can!

Girl jumps to the New Year 2017 at sunset.

In these hectic days of busy-ness, the best present you can give to yourself is to take a little time to evaluate your life. If we don’t do this regularly, time will disappear and before you know it, years have gone by and you’ll wonder where it went. Rather than allowing your life to slip through the sands of time, take a little time on a regular basis to evaluate where you’ve been and where you want to go.

Personally, I generally do the following activities at the New Year, my birthday (which is in March), and at the end of summer when I’m gearing up to finish the year. I recommend at the very minimum, annually, but quarterly or even monthly is great.

Here are some simple ways that you can keep your life on track moving forward towards the experiences you want to have. Take out a piece of paper or better yet, write this down in a journal so you can come back to it in the future to reflect back.

1. Write down your top goals that you want to accomplish in the next 12 months. Just the act of putting it down on paper makes it more concrete and the odds of these things happening increase dramatically. In fact, only 3% of people actually write down their goals and according to a study of Harvard students, that 3% will make ten times more than the other 97% put together!

2. Write down how you want to FEEL in the coming months. Get in touch with the emotions and feelings you want to have as your dominate feelings. Whether it is love, happiness, joy, abundance, peace, fun, excitement, passion, or whatever is important to you, bringing this awareness to how you are feeling is going to keep you on track of situations that are in line with these feelings—nor even more importantly, situations that are NOT in alignment with these core emotions.

3. Write down what experiences you want to have. Be specific, dream big, bring fun into this. What are the things you’re dreaming about doing in your life. There is absolutely no time better than NOW to start experiencing it. Life is about living…not settling or waiting until the time is right or you have enough money/time/freedom/ability/insert your reasons here to make it happen. The dynamic about creating your life is that you need to be clear and specific about you want, set the intention to make it happen, and then guess what? It has a much higher likelihood of happening!

4. Write down how you want to give back in your life. The key to bring joy into your life and creating the life you want to live is directly tied into how you want to give back. Your ability to receive grows as you give. And as you give, you help others feel good which in turn makes you feel good too. The more interactive this is, the better. Although it is nice to write a check to your favorite charity, it doesn’t have nearly the positive impact energetically on you versus going down to the local soup kitchen and helping to feed the homeless during the holidays or reading for children at the local library. These are just examples—come up with what feels right for you.

5. Write down how you are going to take care of yourself and get committed. We only have one body and it is important to take care of it. So whether that means eating healthier foods, getting regular exercise, sleeping better, having more fun, nurturing relationships more, think about how you can take care of yourself physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. Often people think it is selfish to put yourself before others but in fact, it is the exact opposite. When you take good care of yourself, you have more to give to others.

When you take good care of yourself, you have more to give to others.
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Once you’ve written these 5 ways to get the most out of the coming year, think about all you’ve accomplished, and how far you’ve come so far. Celebrate your progress and know that you are getting in the driver’s seat of your life. You become empowered when you stop and take a little time for this reflection. And dream about how you want to experience your life. Because everything that we can imagine and dream about, we can bring into our experiences if we stay focused, determined, committed, and loving the path we’ve chosen to take. Good luck and here’s to making your dream life come true!

Tag Archives: dreams

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