Issue 104, April 2007
Apples for apples
©Jane Teresa Anderson, April 2007
It is a truth universally acknowledged in modern day psychology that if you keep on doing the same things you’ll keep on getting the same results. If you’re not yet in possession of a good fortune, it’s because you’re not doing the kinds of things that result in the accumulation good fortune. If you’re not rich yet, you’re not taking the kinds of actions people who get rich take.
Your dreams can help you to look at your life from different angles, and inspire you to consider new approaches that might deliver the kind of success that seems to be eluding you.
But before we delve into dreams, consider the story of the spider and King Robert the Bruce, of Scotland. In the fourteenth century, Robert the Bruce was hiding in a cave, exhausted from a seemingly never-ending struggle against English invaders. He was about to flee for France when he saw a spider, spinning its web, trying to swing out on a thread across the cave to attach the web to the other side. The spider tried and failed many times, but didn’t give up. Eventually, and presumably using the same approach, the winds of fortune prevailed and she successfully anchored her web. Robert the Bruce, inspired by the spider, went back into battle and, over the next eight years, successfully drove the English from his homeland. The motto “If you do not first succeed, try, try and try again” is attributed to Robert the Bruce, and has been inspiring people towards success for some 700 years.
Yes, yes, the dream example and tips are coming, but please take a moment to anchor this firmly in your mind first. Many a successful person will tell you that persistence is a key to success. Success doesn’t often happen overnight. It’s the result of persistent plugging away, sometimes using the same approach over and over, never giving up, and sometimes learning from trial and error, tweaking the approach rather than drastically changing it. On the other hand there comes a time to walk away from some approaches with a precious gift - the wisdom gained from the experience – and build success from a completely different approach.
Let’s look at Pia’s dream:
“I dreamed I was down on my hands and knees pulling weeds from a huge garden. Behind me were rows and rows of freshly weeded crops. I felt I was making progress. It was hard work, but I was pleased with the results so far.
On one side my garden was inundated with thousands of fallen apples from the neighbour’s orchard. They were rotten, full of bugs and smothering my crops, but the job was too big so I just gave up trying to do anything with that area. I mentally gave that land away, thought of it as unproductive.
It was all such hard work but, throughout the dream, I just kept looking back at the healthy crops behind me and was inspired to keep on going.”
Pia said her dream reminded her of her design business. Her business was productive but hard work and challenging. Whenever she needed inspiration she just looked back at the successes she had achieved so far in the business and felt motivated to continue. Her dream came up at a particularly difficult time when she was feeling exhausted and was considering closing the business down to enjoy more quality time with her family. Encouraged by her dream, she decided to keep on going. It had reminded her, once again, of the successes she had achieved, and the future successes that would surely come her way if she continued to do more of the same.
And Pia’s story might have ended there, had she not been encouraged to revisit her dream. Her reading of her dream didn’t solve her current issue of wanting more quality time with her family. Instead, her reading of her dream opted for ‘more of the same’, the good and the not so good.
When you read a dream, make sure you’re asking the right questions.
“If the dream is your design business, Pia, what are those thousands of rotting apples crushing your crops?”
After considerable contemplation, Pia replied:
“All the emails I get every day from people asking me questions about design. I used to answer them all, but I don’t now,” she sat back and looked pleased with herself. “Want to know how I worked that out?’” she added. “Apples. Apple Mac computer. Ever since I got my new Apple Mac I’ve had so much design work that I just can’t reply to people’s emails unless they’re clients or asking for quotes.”
“Why are the dream apples rotten, Pia?”
“Because they’ve been left to rot.”
“So they were healthy when they fell into your garden?”
“Yes.”
“What can you do with healthy apples?”
Pia played the game. “Give them away, sell them, make apple pie, be nourished by them …”
“Apply those thoughts to your emails, Pia.”
“Give the enquiries to students to answer and post their replies on my website. Start a blog and post the enquiries and offer prizes for the best replies. Gather the enquiries as examples of things people want to know and write a book with all the answers, become a best-selling author, make enough money to spend more quality time with my family, offer commissions to students who answer enquiries and secure a sale as a result of dialogue, or ….”
You get the picture. One or more of these ideas about reclaiming an unproductive area of her business and making it highly productive and profitable may pay off.
Is there room for change in your life, or, like the spider, are you hoping the same old approach will deliver, one day, when the winds of fortune are on your side?
PS
Apologies to Jane Austen for ransacking her famous opening line to Pride and Prejudice, namely:
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”
Jane Teresa Anderson
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