O
MGoodness.
Did he read the letter wrong?
What if he didn’t understand?
What if he doesn’t get to go?
He’s telling everyone as if it’s a sure thing…
He’s setting himself up for disappointment…
I have to make sure he understands…
I waited til we were alone in the car to talk to him about it. And then I took another minute to figure out how to say it in a way that didn’t limit him or destroy his dream.
This is just a reality check.
“Honey, I just want to make sure you understand. You were selected…to apply…to be selected…to then find the money required to go Australia next summer.”
He looked at me dumbfounded, but not for the reason I thought.
“Mom…” he took a deep breath before responding and giving me a reality check I will not soon forget. “I know what you’re saying. I know there are steps in the process and that they have to select me, but I ALREADY KNOW THAT I’M GOING TO AUSTRALIA NEXT SUMMER.”
And then, without him saying a word, I knew WHY he had looked at me baffled.
It feels like a LONG TIME AGO to me, but to him, it probably feels like yesterday…
“Aaron, what do you think of your mom?” She asked him, knowing that he’d been listening carefully to our conversation about my intention to write, publish, and launch an Amazon bestselling book in 6 months.
My 9-year-old son didn’t even take a breath before answering, “There she goes again, flying through the air in her underwear.”
We all broke into a fit of laughter – the kind that gets you right in your core and squeezes the tears out.
There was almost no explanation necessary.
My child had (apparently) been watching and listening to me more closely than I thought for the past few years.
He’d watched me develop…
- a new program
- 75 pages of curriculum
- a website and business cards
- and a new look
…in 3 weeks before stepping on to my first stage with more than 200 people in the room.
He’d watched me create…
- a team to walk new authors through the process of self-publishing
(which I knew LITTLE about at the time!)
to launch them on stage next to a New York Times Bestselling Author at…
- a new event, bigger than I had ever dreamed of putting on that, when all was said and done, was standing-room only
…in only 6 months.
In other words…
The kid had witnessed his mommy take huge leaps of faith (fly through the air)
and risk a lot of her finances, reputation, etc. (in her underwear)
in the process.
My idea to write, publish, and launch a bestselling book in 6 months was just another one of those ‘crazy things his mom was going to do.’
So, the reason he was baffled at my ‘pep talk’ about his trip to Australia was because I was speaking completely out of alignment with the Expectation and Action I had modeled to him for years.
When he saw the letter, he knew in his gut that he was going.
The same way I knew in my gut that the programs, events,
and books would get done.
When he saw the letter, it didn’t matter that there were steps to take
because they were as good as done.
The same way that when I saw the long list of to-do’s over those 6-month periods,
it didn’t matter because they were as good as done.
___
When he wanted the new gaming system, he talked about it as if it were already his.
The same way that I spoke when I told everyone about my crazy dream,
and to myself as I walked through the labyrinth every morning,
Remember when I wrote, published, and launched a bestseller
in less than 6 months?
Remember how easy and fun it was?
Remember how everything came together so quickly and easily?
_____
And now it’s his turn to fly through the air in his underwear…
“Mom?” his voice brought me back to the car.
“Ya, Buddy. I hear you. Why would we doubt the Magic now?”
“Exactly!” he smiled and relaxed into the passenger seat, and then talked my ear off about hugging koalas, petting kangaroos, and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef.
And I let him…and I engaged…
Because I remember…
I LOVED the feeling of sharing my dream with others and having them see it and feel it with me.
I KNOW their BELIEF and LOVE fueled my dream and made it easier to achieve.
As this year comes to a close, I have to ask myself…
- What dream am I putting my energy into?
- What would it take for me to shift from DREAMING to EXPECTING?