The Road Back Podcast

#8 – Building Blocks to Dreams, Pt. 1 – Clarity & Trust

• Melissa Runacres & Desiree Amariei • Season 1 • Episode 8

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What if the desires in your heart weren’t random—but actual guidance toward your purpose? In Part 1 of our Building Blocks to Dreams conversation, we’re talking about the foundations of pursuing what you long for: clarity, understanding desires are guidance, and releasing the pressure of figuring out “the how.” 

Join us as we share stories of how our dreams began to take shape when we stopped shrinking back and started believing they were pointing us somewhere intentional.

Want help with figuring out your dreams? Connect with Melissa here: https://melissarunacres.com/offerings/

Interested in Dez's 2026 mentorship? Check out her website here: https://desireeamarieiconsulting.squarespace.com/


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Hey friends, I'm so excited to have you here on today's show. We are going to talk about one of our favorite topics building blocks to dreams. So if you tuned in last week, we spent an episode talking about roadblocks to dreams and some of the things that trip us up when we are trying to bring dreams to life. But this week and next week, we are breaking down our top tips for walking out desires in your heart – some of the things we've learned along the way. And we are really excited to dive into this conversation with you because it is something that we are both very passionate about. Yeah, we were juicing out as my friend Karen says. We were just so excited about these building blocks that we've really discovered along the journey of connecting to our hearts and the road back to ourselves. It's really important to dream again. Mel, why don't you start by just helping the listener understand what is the difference between a dream and a goal and how do you define those? Well, I have personally thought about this because while there is a lot of overlap between the two, I actually do see a dream and a goal as slightly different. I see a goal as something with a very definite outcome. And it is often something that you can reverse engineer. So for instance, if you wanted to run a marathon in six months' time, you could download a running app and plan, If I wanna get there in 180 days, where do I need to start now? And you would be able to find a plan online, you can sit down and you can plan out step by step. If I do X, Y, and Z, and I buy these types of running shoes and I get on this kind of eating plan, and I do this amount of exercise each week, I should be able to reach my goal at the set time. And there's a lot of personal control over outcome with goals. Of course there may be unexpected twists and turns, but largely it's up to me. It's the same thing as if I wanted to lose 20 pounds and I decided to go to the gym and get on a specific eating program. And I decided to drop junk food and sugar and I added water. There's a lot of things within my realm of control that when I implement these changes or I start this process, then I can reach X finish line and I can make that happen. I see dreams as slightly different because dreams bubble up and have often measurable outcomes, but I see them as coming up from a deeper place inside of our heart. They're very linked to desire. They're often linked to who I am as a person Yes. my expression in the earth. What does it look like me living out who I am? It's part of my identity often, and it's often linked in my mind to my greater purpose. So an example of a dream could be, I wanna find my dream man. I wanna get married. I wanna become a mother. And so there are certain things that I can do to influence that process, but there are other people and other circumstances that can either make the process work or make the process not work. I can do as much as I can to get ready to prepare myself for marriage, but I can't control when Mr. Right is going to cross my path. I can't necessarily control the process of... having children, I don't know when I'm going to get pregnant. And sometimes it can take unexpected twists and turns. So those to me link to desires that often have a level of vulnerability and also require a level of trust that I can do what I can do. But then there are things outside of my control I can't dictate the terms to, and I have to lean into that journey of trusting that God is working on my behalf and that the right people, the right resources are going to come across my path as I need them. So they both have overlap in that you can have a defined outcome that you're wanting, but goals are largely within my control and dreams often have elements of control for me, but also large elements that rely on external sources that are outside of me. So that's my thought. What would you add to that, Dez anything specific? It's so good because as you were sharing, it really helps even understand why dreams are so vulnerable is because you can't guarantee if I do X, I'll get Y. This discussion is so important because to engage in your heart, to connect to a desire and a bigger dream is to engage in a place inside of us where we're not 100 % in control. Like it's so important. I think both of us are all about like, you are powerful. We're going to talk about all these building blocks of empowerment, but to notice at the beginning that you're not the only one that's active. Like there's other things and other people. And so you can't really know exactly how it's gonna look at the end. And that kind of sets us up for the process being the journey or the invitation. Totally. There's so many elements that come to play in dreams that are like baking a cake you need, different ingredients. And some of the ingredients you provide and some of the ingredients others provide. And sometimes dreams look exactly the way you think they are, but often the process can look very different. And sometimes even that's where we get the journey of trust and embracing the steps in front of us. Dez, in our building blocks for dreams, one of the first blocks that I think is most important is clarity. I'm curious to know how clarity has played a role for you and coming from the background that you've come from of working through just not what you 'should' want, but actually what you really want. What has that process looked like for you? Right, yeah, I think to engage in clarity around what I wanted, I had to really undo a lot of beliefs that I had about my right to want something. Like I honestly didn't know what I wanted because I didn't give myself that permission or the space because the internal rule I had was only God can tell me what to do. There's one purpose, one path, and until he let me know how that was going to step out there was no real value to what I wanted. And so I had to really sift through and shift around a few things. It's not that I don't have a value for, God's desire in my life or how God moves inside of my life. But on the contrary, I think getting connected to what I actually want propels me towards those things that God's leading me to inside of my life. And so that was the first thing I had to acknowledge is that I don't know what I want. And so to get in touch with that, there was a lot of undoing certain belief systems. Can you resonate with that of just like, there was one path, one person, one career, one ministry, one focus, one way to parent kids. There was like the way and I had to than. a lot of pressure on you as well. And a very external focus too of waiting for the steps or waiting for the confirmation, waiting for the sermon to tell you what to do or the prophetic word to tell you what to do. yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah, I probably felt the nudge towards things, but I had such a belief that it had to be confirmed in so many external ways before I could honor it and take it seriously or trust it. There was such a lack of trust of me noticing what was happening inside of me, of the things I wanted. There's a lot of those things that were coming up in me, but I never honored them. And when I started to, that brought a lot of clarity to what I actually wanted and was dreaming, the desires of my heart. Yeah. Were there any specific moments that felt catalytic to that? In a sense that, I was externally focused, but this thing happened and I felt more permission. Because I hear a lot of waiting for permission as well, like waiting to make sure for sure, for sure, for sure. How many confirmations do we need? Do we actually need a trumpet blast from the sky or an angel appearance to just make doubly sure? Because I mean, I... I lived a lot of my life waiting for God to show me what his will was because it didn't occur to me that I could be powerful in it in myself. So I'm curious to know if there were any specifics that happened for you that felt like real shifting moments to help you feel that permission to look inward rather than externally? Yes, and I think it was a belief that God trusted me. God trusted me inside of this, that there was a co-collaboration experience that he was really okay with. Whereas before I thought by honoring or acknowledging something I wanted was taking something from him in a very odd way, which it was like, maybe it's... that was his job to do and I'm taking it over. Maybe that feels really relatable to a lot of people. This was his role and I'm doing it. Instead of this place where by connecting to myself and my desires and honoring and trusting them, this was the co-collaborative plan all the way, uh the whole time. And so it's more of a trust where I think he's trusting me and I'm trusting myself. And that think that shift really brought clarity because now I was able to honor what was coming up inside of me as true and as enough as guidance. How did you get to that place? Was it a multi-step process or do you feel like there was one certain revelation or shift in your mindset that helped you drop in to that belief that you could lean internally? Yeah, I would say that learning more about my autonomy and understanding that God made me to be autonomous as part of my identity and that I hold within me everything that I need for my life within this autonomy of God inside of me. That was really a big shift because before I constantly felt like there was something I was missing, something I didn't have, I needed to figure something out. God was trying to give me clues all the time and I was failing at it because I never felt secure in it. I never could get enough confirmation from the outside to feel like I could say I'm for sure aware of it. And so really connecting to my autonomy empowered me to take myself seriously and to engage in the empowered belief of a co-creative experience in life with God. I know something that helped me as well because I was very much stuck in a similar thought pattern and belief system for a long time. When I became a mother and I thought about what healthy parents did, I realized that it would sound insane to tell my child that there was only one way they could live and that they had to spend their life figuring out what it was I wanted from them, but I wasn't necessarily going to be very clear. It was all on them to, they pray enough? Did they worship enough? Did they obey my rules enough in order to earn the next little nugget or little scrap of insight along the way to help them live out their perfect life, which when I thought about it, I thought this is ludicrous. I would never expect my child to spend their entire life trying to figure out what I wanted. As a healthy parent, my entire desire is to actually create a space for my child to flourish and who it is that they are created to be, not to live up to some unseen, ambiguous expectation on my part. They're spending the whole time looking to me and saying, did I get it right? Did I get it right? well, it was 95 % right, but not quite a hundred percent. You were in the good or maybe the acceptable, but not the perfect will of God. And I thought this is crazy. And I, for me, it was a massive shift when I became a mother, because I realized that the Bible even says even as imperfect as we are, we still love our children. God is perfect. And I thought that actually sounds almost abusive, to expect my children to somehow know what I want, but only give them scraps along the way and hope that they figured it out, but then be sitting there with this internal state of disapproval of, you can't quite live up to it because you didn't figure out the right formula today to make me happy. And I just thought, okay, this is dumb. I want my children to thrive. And so you even saying the thing about autonomy, part of where the light bulb went off for me was recognizing, oh God actually takes delight in me discovering the desires in my heart. There's a delight as a parent for me when I see my children light up as they lean into their specific gifts, their specific DNA, their specific talents and hobbies. I feel like I get to go on the discovery journey with them and It is so fun for me to help facilitate them on their journey of discovering what lights them up. And I realized, if I can do this, then absolutely God is delighting in seeing me come alive in the things that he has put in my heart. love that check-in of like just logically, why do I believe this way? And bringing clarity means just shifting and understanding a better belief system. Mel, tell me a little bit about why you think clarity is such a powerful first step in walking out your dreams. Well, I've heard this phrase before, "Clarity is power." And there's a lot of truth to that. The clearer you can be in knowing where you want to go, the more directly you can take the route to get there. I wouldn't just jump in the car and start driving and go, I hope I get to where I'm going. You need to know where you're going. And I remember hearing someone say this statement once, and it really stuck with me. She was a high performance entrepreneurial guru person, and she would work with people. And she said, I always say this to my clients. One of the first conversations I have with them I tell them, I can help you get whatever it is you want, but you need to tell me what it is. And I was like, yes, that landed in my bones and in the internal part of my soul. I went, yes, that absolutely is true because I have a similar conviction. I absolutely believe that we can have the desires of our hearts, but we have to own what they are. If you don't know what you want, it's like going to a restaurant and changing your mind on the menu, like, oh, I want this, or do I want that, or, maybe I want this. You're not gonna get your order if you can't tell the waiter, I want the filet mignon done medium rare with green beans and mashed potatoes and wine gravy. The more specific you can be, the more you will know when opportunities are coming that are going to support your decision, the more you're gonna be able to say yes or no. remember hearing somebody say once that the definition of self-control is knowing what to say no to because I have such a clear yes, like this is what I want. I can actually filter out the things that aren't going to help me get there. Clarity is incredibly important. I see it as a first step. Beginning with the end in mind is a first step. However, I would say a caveat to that is it's not a reason to not take any action at all. There's been times where I'm like, I just know I want something and I'm not exactly sure what it is. And I used to sometimes just camp out there and go, well, I can't move until I'm clear on what I want because you know, that's what everybody says. And I know clarity is power and da da. But what I've actually discovered in the journey of trust that we talk about with dreams is sometimes I just have a sense of, I want to go in this direction. There's something out here for me and I don't know exactly what it is. And that's the tension sometimes. We want to be clear. And if you're avoiding or you're in denial and you're not owning what you want, that's one conversation because you actually need to be able to say, this is what I want. But there's also times where I'm genuinely leaning in and I'm not trying to deny my desires. I just I don't think I can articulate it yet. It's a little bit too deep in my heart, but I do feel a pull. And so I do believe in the value of sometimes you've just got to go with what you have and trust that clarity will come. So there's a little bit of tension there. Clarity is important, but it's also not a complete excuse if you don't have clarity to refuse to take any action whatsoever. I love having something specifically in mind because it's logical. Like you said, just ordering food that made so much sense to me. And also I find that when people are learning to connect to their dreams, and even there's some deep, deep dreams inside of me, I don't exactly know how it's gonna look. I know I want to go in a direction. And so in that sense, it's really important to keep moving towards it. It reminds me of this quote that I adore from Rumi and it says, "As you start to walk the way, the way will appear." And so there is a level of when you feel the desire, when you feel the desire in you to move towards it is to actually believe that you're getting the clarity you need as you walk. Mm-hmm. Yes. so I really can resonate with that because I think for me naturally now because of all the internal shifts in the work, when a desire lands inside of me, I'm like, it's crystal clear to me. I'm like, this is what I, what, not all the details, but it's clear to me that that's where my heart's leading. And to me, that's enough momentum where I think what you said is so true that people sometimes don't even start because they don't have the clarity in the hundred steps to get there. You don't need a hundred steps of clarity. You just need to start with one step at a time. yeah, absolutely. And so there's sometimes a paradox or like we like to talk about duality a lot. Sometimes you will have very clear, the desire, I wanna get married, I wanna have kids, I use that example again. That's a strong desire and you might have clarity around it. And then there's other times where it's not as clear, but you feel the pull. And I think as we learn to tune in to that inner GPS intuitive, wisdom of our bodies, even of the voice of God inside of us. I think the more we learn to trust that, we don't need as much clarity to be able to take steps forward. And so we say clarity is important and also sometimes it's not. That's the joy of dreaming. There are lots of things that you can't lock into. It must be like this 100 % of the time because there are exceptions to the rule. Yeah, and two things can be true about dreaming at the same time and holding both actually keeps you moving forward. Whereas if only one way had to be the way, that's always what slows us down or stops us in our tracks. So hold on to clarity where you have it, but don't let it stop you from taking a forward step when you have that unction to move. Dez we talk about how we see our desires as guidance. And often our desires can be pointing us towards our greater purpose, even our greater calling or quote, 'destiny' in life. How have you learned to trust your desires and how have you seen them as guidance? I think in this untangling and shifting of internal beliefs and how I relate to God is that one of the purposes of me being on this earth and to experience God is to be connected to God inside of me. So being connected to my heart is the way forward. And so when you think of desires as guidance, I think that the heart will tell you what you're invited to. I believe that through this pathway, through this connection, God is being present in my story. And so by understanding that dreams are guidance, it's the unique way that I am going to discover more of God's love. I get to apply more grace. I get to understand redemption. I get to experience God through this one life that I have. And it helps me really connect. And so, a desire will naturally be one of the ways that he's inviting me to understand him. So it's all personal connection. It's all really a personal guidance system in that economy of my life. How have you worked around a fear then of how do I know that I can trust my desires? How do I actually know there's not maybe some selfish intentions? What would you say to the person who's wrestling with that right now? Like, well, what about the verses in the Bible that tell me, my heart's deceitfully wicked and I can't trust it? You're telling me I can trust my heart now? How do you help somebody work through that? well, I'd love to give an example. I think that we are trained to not trust ourselves and to believe the most shameful, worst things about us. I don't think people have a problem with that especially Christians. I do find that I'll be meeting with people and their desire, they don't know if they're worthy of their desire or if it's even a good desire, is this really God? For instance, they wanna adopt a child. And I just thinking to myself, are you kidding me? To me, it feels so clear because I'm like, if that's your desire, this feels like a very loving, intentional expression. Most people don't wanna bring other children into their home. It's so pure. It's so good. And so I really think that what we're talking about is, is it so bad to write a book or open a bakery? They're really trying to determine these things that are not moral. This isn't a moral decision. Is it a moral decision to write a book and influence people to be connected? I don't think so personally, but I think we get stopped up on that a lot. And it's because we don't believe that our own desires are a way that we're being guided forward in our life. I think if you can just share with people what your desires are, oftentimes you'll get the reflection back of that's a really good desire. I love that desire for you. That's honorable. You should do it. The world needs it. It's good. Mm-hmm. I know that one verse in the Bible about the heart being deceitfully wicked, that is a verse in the Bible, but there are many, many verses that speak of the heart in a positive light. And we have to be careful to take things fully in context rather than pull one verse out and make an entire life decision based on that, because I've actually heard a lot of people shy away from anything to do with their heart or anything to do with their desires because they've been so afraid that it's going to lead me into some lifestyle of debauchery. They're afraid it's going to lead them down a path of immorality or cause them to violate their morals. And that's so unfortunate because I think we cut ourselves off from one of the chief ways that God speaks to us is through desires because of taking a couple of scriptures and then building an entire, like you talk about pillars of belief, building an entire pillar of belief of, I gotta cut myself off completely from this because it might all be bad. And that's just not true. And part of the process that we have to go on coming back to a conversation around trust is, okay, if I want to adopt a baby, maybe there is something in me that's maybe isn't totally perfect or pure, but the process of owning that this is what I want and I'm going to step out and trust that if there's something in me that needs to be worked out in the process, I can trust God to do I can trust guidance to come and lead me on the right path and take me to where I need to go. And if I need to work out something in the process that can get worked out in the going, in the pursuit of the dream. Yes, I love that belief because it helps you get going and it's the belief that you're gonna have what you need as you get going, as you're along the way. And I think it allows for God to be present, because do I actually think that God won't guide me or bring me close or direct this experience? We often think that I take one misstep, I'm dead. I just see like, it pushes the button and I fall down the trap door and it's over. You know, it's over for me. And I think that the belief that life and your desires are full of guidance allows you to stay open to the path and learning things along the way. So good. Yeah. Because people often feel confused about what am I here for? What's my purpose? Why was I born? And if we can connect to the fact that desires are guidance, I think that's a big step. But for the listener who's maybe going, well, okay, what's something practical I can do? I ask people questions around, What did you want to be when you were a child? Because children have such an innocence about what they want and before life comes and knocks us off track, often our desires that come out in childhood are pointing to bigger purposes in our life. If you naturally have a real heart of compassion, you might notice that come out in a child when they're young. You might notice a really strong bent of creativity or a strong leader gift, even if you're a parent looking at your children, but looking back to what was it that I wanted to do when I was a child? What are the things that I naturally gravitate to now? What are my hobbies? What are the things that when I do them, I get really lit up. I can lose track of time because I enjoy going down the rabbit hole and studying this particular topic or enjoying this particular pastime. Those are great indications. If saying, Oh my goodness, what do I desire feels too big, feels overwhelming at the thought, then I simplify back to going, what were your desires as a kid and what do you love to do? What do people compliment you on? That's another one that often shines a light on something that you're naturally gifted in and often our gifts are linked Yes. that are around our purpose. Yeah. good. Yeah. Or what do people often um say are your strengths? You know, ask five friends, what would they say about what comes naturally to you? Such good, good questions to understand. recognizing that not everybody wants the same thing. I used to keep a lot of my thoughts and desires [private]. I didn't share them with anybody because I felt kind of embarrassed about them sometimes because they seemed big and important to me. And something in my brain made me think, well, if I want this, like, this is what everybody wants. Everybody wants this. And then I would find myself in conversations and happen to mention something that I was thinking or dreaming about another person would go, really? I've never even thought of that before. And in my work with people and asking them questions about their dreams, something that has become very apparent to me, and I want the listener to hear this, is your desires are unique to you. And the way it's expressed – maybe you want to open a cafe. You have a gift of hospitality and you just love creating spaces where people feel seen and known and they could come and feel nourished and taken care of and welcome. And that's something that you love and you go, well, yeah, but you know, there's a million other people who have cafe as well. Okay, maybe you have a restaurant, somebody else has a restaurant, but the way it is expressed through you, when you give yourself to really leaning into what it looks like for you, it will have your own unique flavor. Mm-hmm. it doesn't mean nobody else will ever do the thing you're doing, but what is true is they will never do it the way you can do it. Absolutely, absolutely. I think this helps with the imposter syndrome belief is just to believe like there's actually enough room in this world for your unique expression and so-and-so's unique expression to coexist. So one doesn't exclude the other. It's actually really important for you to honor the thing that makes you uniquely you and what you want and dream for. So many people want to have families. It's so important. It's so important to have many coffee shops. It's so important to have many books to read, to have many different therapists. I mean, every dream is important and doesn't disqualify you just because another person has the dream. Another building block that can propel you in your dream life is releasing the how, how this dream will come about. And so Mel, I'm wondering, can you tell me what you believe about releasing the how and just trusting how things might fall into place? How has that impacted your dreaming? I think when we want to know how something's going to play out. We want to know the steps in advance. First of all, it's a very human reaction, a very human response. And it can feel scary to step into something that is unknown, especially if it's vulnerable, especially if it's a desire that touches on really deep parts of who we are and what we long for in life. And wanting to know the how is very normal, but often when it comes to dreams, it's just not practical. And if we're not careful, demanding that we know all the steps that are going to happen before we take the first step actually can turn into a stumbling block, not a building block for us. And so one of the things that I've had to personally lean into myself is learning to just take the next right step. And I remember years ago, I used to get my bank statements in the mail. I remember back in the day when you'd get like paper bank statements, probably aging ourselves here. Yeah. But you'd get the bank statements in the mail. And I remember the bank that I belonged to at the time at the top of their bank statement there was this Chinese proverb that they'd written and it said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." And it really stuck with me because you don't know what's gonna happen at mile 672. And if we get too hung up on trying to anticipate every eventuality, we can stop ourselves from taking even the first step. And so what I have learned to do and... it's been trial and error and it's been something that as I've given myself to trust and given myself to simply taking the next step or the next inspired action, I have learned that the path will continue to unfold. And there's something very powerful about making a decision and choosing to move forward that I don't fully understand how it works, but it pulls. resources to you. Whereas if you're sitting in a place of indecision or in a place of passivity you cannot access those same resources. And so releasing the how is not only an act of trust, but it's also letting God do his part while you do your part. Yes. I remind myself regularly, the how is not my responsibility. I tell clients, the how is not your responsibility. If friends or family are coming to me, I'm like, the how is not your responsibility. Your responsibility is to get clear as best as you can on what you want and then keep taking the next right action time and time again, surrendering Mm. to the process and then this mantra that I live my life by, which is, it's this or it's something better. And leaning into the fact that sometimes life doesn't go the way I think it's going to, and sometimes even in the process of pursuing my dreams, there are unexpected twists and turns, just like with any journey.

And leaning into the fact that #1:

God is good above all else. And he is abundant and he is generous and he is kind and he is not withholding any good thing from me. And so if things don't pan out exactly the way I think they're going to, it's because there's a better plan in place. There is something better. It's this or something better. So I'm gonna go for what I want and I'm gonna keep leaning in and keep taking the next right step. But if something happens and it turns out differently than what I thought it was going to, then I'm gonna trust that that next... thing was actually the better thing. My heart is always like, what is the highest and the best? I want the highest and the best for my life. And I want the highest and the best for people around me. And so letting go of the how for me is also letting go of control, letting go of a need to manage everything and taking accountability for what I am in charge of and letting the rest of the steps come to me as I can. That journey of a thousand miles, I might be at mile one, I might be at mile 55, I might be at mile 979. But I can trust that if I keep taking that step, I am going to get to destination that I am meant to get to and I can trust the guidance along the way and the provision is going to be there for me. Mm. I've heard you say that so much and I've, I love that mantra of not this, something better. I think what it does, you know, as I'm thinking about it is that it delays the meaning. Maybe I'm on step 314 and say this doesn't look the way I thought it was going to look. By delaying assigning that meaning and believing into a higher, more abundant belief of like, there will be something else. The belief that it's even gonna be better, that brings so much momentum to stay on the path, to keep going. And so I love that. I love that so much. One thing that I did is shift from how to why. Uhhhh The brain will ask how. One of the brain's automated responses is to understand as much as possible. And so a why question can help my brain feel appeased in that way because by thinking why, it also helps me kind of go back into that core belief. If my goal in this life is to come alive to God inside me, to be connected, to be connected to my heart, to understand that this life is the experience that God in me wants to show me and reveal to me through desires, through my body, sometimes the limits and the capacities, through seasons, through challenges. If I truly believe that, then I'm more likely to stay on the path. It's not really about those details. I don't have to get something outside of me because the why is inside of me. That why is enough to keep me. Mmm. that switch has really given me a lot of momentum where I returning to the why I'm doing, why is this valuable? If I get more connected to love by doing this thing, is that enough? Is that enough for me? Yeah. And it shifts even a little bit of the focus on what do I get at the end of this or what do I achieve or what's the status I acquire? And it turns even into who is the person I am embodying or becoming in this process? And those are things that no one can take away from me. You can't take away the development of my character in the waiting, in the process, in the healing. And those are things that as I grow into and step into them, those are things that I can take and I can share with others on their own journey because of the hard fought lessons that I've won or the battles that I've fought or the things that I've had to hold onto, the hope I've had to cultivate in the journey of leaning into things. And I think it's so powerful when you reframe or shift the focus from how to why. You know, I often refer to dreams as seeds.

And it's because of Proverbs 13:

12, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." And so if a desire fulfilled as a tree, a desire begins as a seed. We don't ask seeds how they grow. We don't put a seed in the ground and then dig up the soil every two days to see, oh, what's happening? What's happening? What's happening? We simply trust that if we put a seed in the ground and we water it and we fertilize it and it gets the sun in the right temperature, that seed is naturally going to spring up of its own accord. And I think our desires and our dreams are the same way, especially if we are looking at them as expressions of the deeper part of who we are and a deeper part of our expression on earth. It's the same thing. I don't agonize about how the acorn is gonna sprout into an oak tree. I don't stress out about a carrot seed producing a carrot. And I think holding it with that purpose of, oh, my dreams are seeds. And if I give them the right conditions and I take the right steps, they are going to naturally spring up. I think it's a huge help. And it lifts off some of the pressure off of our own shoulders. Yeah. I think people can carry a lot of shame around dreams that didn't come out the way they thought. And returning to the quote about being on the way, "As you walk on the way, the way will be there." It's not really about the destination. if you're checking the seed to see, am I getting to the place I think I should be at, and you're uncovering it and digging it up, it's not about an external something or destination or goal. That's not gonna prove to me that I'm worthy of being on this path that I've arrived. I'm actually trusting in the process. and being on the journey is quote unquote, it has become the whole purpose instead of a destination, it becomes the whole purpose of the path. friends, we are going to wrap up part one now, but next week we're gonna dive into some more conversation around the building blocks of dreams. We're gonna share some stories from our own life, ways that we've walked out our own dreams and the lessons we've learned by sharing some specific examples around this important topic. So I hope you'll join us then. We look forward to being with you. thanks for being here. Bye guys. Bye.