The above lines are from a song by Marianne Faithfull called the Ballad of Lucy Jordan. It was about an unfulfilled, middle aged woman who was so depressed she took her own life. Even though I was a young woman when this song was on the radio the words struck me.
Other experiences during my stint as a nurse also struck me, as unfullfilled dying people would regret the things they never did and the things they never said.
For the most part peoples' dreams exist in fantasy realities. These fantasy realities are not 'grounded' so never really have a chance of happening. They just float about taunting the person as they get older and older and more set in the pattern of their life. Like Lucy Jordan, at the age of forty seven or thereabouts those with the money or drive attempt to manifest these fantasies with a mid-life crisis. The rest just become more depressed and try to close off and deny the part of themselves that wants the fantasy.
How many times do you hear people say: "One day I'm gonna......travel / write / leave this job / move to the country etc. etc." People go through their lives slaving away for years for 'one day'. If they are lucky, by the time they retire they will have a little time and money and enough health left to fulfill some of their dreams.
As the bumper sticker says: "You are a spiritual being having a human experience." You chose to be born into this plane of reality to do certain things and learn certain lessons. Regardless of reincarnation, THIS life is the only one you're having on this plane in this time and space.
Did you come to earth to sit in an office all day and sit in front of the TV all night? Imagine you died tomorrow. When you get to the pearly gates and review the life you've just lived compared with what you came here to do, do you think there will be things left undone? What are the highlights? What did you achieve? How did you help others? Did you have a good life? Did you make a difference? or will you say 'Oops! That was a bit of a waste of time! Better send me back again'.
This article is full of clichés I know, but Life is NOT a Dress Rehearsal for 'one day'. Should you plod along doing the 'sensible' thing or follow your heart? If you found out you had 3 months to live what would you do? Who's in charge of your life anyway? Your boss? Your relatives? The government?
If you have been triggered to start ascending you may be feeling a little unfullfilled in your current life. You start to see all the attachments - the people, the job, the mortgage, the responsibilities, the identities you must assume, the emotional baggage - all starting to weigh you down and hold you back. This is because they ARE quite literally attached to your subtle bodies and you are increasing in vibration and they are not necessarily. You will feel the ones that are pulling on you the most getting quite uncomfortable. In the understanding of what's going on you can start to choose your future direction.
Many people in reading ascension articles about releasing attachments go into fear. Do I have to give up my house/job/spouse etc. to ascend? Ascension is not a cult or a following. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. You can stay exactly where and how you are. There will be plenty of other people staying how they are to keep you company. However if you ARE ascending you will start to feel the weight of these attachments pulling at you and start to want to shed things that no longer serve - just 'intend' to do it at a pace you can handle.
For example, I started feeling the clutter in my house dragging me down. By sorting and shedding a lot of stuff and having a garage sale, I not only made a little money but also released a lot of attachments to things I no longer used or needed. I like to think of the example of when you go on holiday you just take what you need and use. You would not miss 90% of the stuff in your house if it were to burn down in your abscence. If you wanted to move do you want to take it all with you? You came into this world with nothing and look at the mess most people leave behind!
Learn how to talk to your own soul and guidance* and ask the soul the best course of action - not the personality. The soul knows what you came here to do and will take you the shortest, most painless route to get there - even if it doesn't make sense to the personality - or the personalities of the people around you.
Do you feel you are complete in your relationship or job? How long will you stay there out of fear or habit? Nobody is telling you to leave but you will feel it pulling on you after a while literally holding you back. How can one manifest an ascending partner while living with a non-ascending one? How can one manifest a job that gives joy while spending all day in one that does not?
There is always pain in the separation of the cords of attachment, but the joy and release afterwards will allow your vibration to increase bringing more joy into your life, making you a freer spirit and more able to be fluid as the many changes for Earth start manifesting in the physical.
If there's one thing I've learned about manifesting dreams, it's to strike while the iron's hot. While you're in the moment of joy and soul is with you and you can see yourself manifesting your future - commit to it. Plan that house in the country - take that job - do that course you've always wanted to do - decide to open your little business. If you leave it until you're back where the attachments are, soul will retract and they will just disconnect into fantasy bubbles for 'one day' and you'll just plod along unfulfilled again.
What did I do after I heard 'The Ballad of Lucy Jordan'? I bought a sports car and I went to Paris. I didn't need to do this necessarily at the time for spiritual development, but I sure didn't want to be middle aged and say I'd never done it. When I had to decide between a sensible job in an office and singing in a rock & roll band I chose the band - hell I can work in an office when I'm old! Don't go through life wishing you'd done something when you had the chance, and thinking how 'lucky' some people are that they can do it. They took a risk to fulfill their dreams. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
If you really feel guided to do something, start making plans. The changes in life don't have to be traumatic or forced upon you, unless you keep resisting something you're being guided to do. You can plan the changes and release the old attachments painlessly as you manifest the new. You can start cleaning your house a room at a time, or do a course for a new career in the evenings while the old job supports you.
Don't go through life saying "One day I'm gonna......", say "I AM gonna......NOW" and start putting the plans in motion. After all, life is not a dress rehearsal!
Copyright 2002 Linda Johnson - www.newage.com.au
*One can contact their guidance by being grounded and using pendulum or muscle testing.