By Guest Blogger: Maryse G. Copans

The question came to me last night in a dream. I was visiting family in Belgium and met with one of my cousins who had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness. He was devastated as his doctors had given him about 10 years to live. He cried and told me he had no idea how to live on borrowed time. What was he to do with the expiration date he’d been labeled with? I held him with love and compassion for a few minutes, and then, just before waking up, I popped the loaded question:

“Do you want to really live this life?”

I dream. A lot. I dream by night and I dream by day. I engage in exploratory woolgathering any occasion I get. For me, counting sheep is the portal to juicy bits of wisdom and insights. I find that gazing at the world around me can bring remarkable clarity and results. As far as I’m concerned, dreams are where it all starts. They’re the source of my unique brand of energy and creativity. Through them my life expands like a pure stream rushing down the mountain grows into its own wide river.

I do want to really live this life. I want every moment to bear witness to my joy at being here now, to boldly display my trust in the unfolding of my days. And when the going gets rough, it isn’t my rough that gets going anymore, but my surrendering, my loving, my believing. One hour, ten years, who’s to know? I don’t really care anymore. The uncertainty has lost the power to make me cry. It’s resting there, in my dreams’ embrace, where everything remains possible and life never ends. Where I wish for words that will dance at my fingertips and for a love that will shoot in all directions. Where I hold a vision so full of colorful images and laughter that my whole being draws in light even on the dreariest morning and radiates hope in the midst of constraints and challenges. Where beauty lies in a drop of rain and smiles appear unbidden.

“Do you want to really live this life?”

I encourage you to give yourself permission to dream, to return to the beginning of things desired. To feel into that corner of your soul that knows what it is you want and to let it guide you back to fulfillment. I invite you to open up to the possibility that your desires can come true. Let them lead you to a magical connection to your true self. Whether you have months or an eternity ahead of you, feel the freedom now of entering the space where your heart shows you what matters and what fills it to the brim. Follow the trail to a life well lived where doors open onto your personal brand of success and meaning.

“Do you want to really live your life?”

Dream. Dream big, wonderful, kind, generous. On your journey from birth to death, show the world that you are powerful and resilient and that you choose to own your beginning and to grow into a future larger than ever thought possible. When you dream you say no to limits and excuses and open up to the realm of infinite surprises. You hold what deeply resonates close to your heart and you bravely state, in the face of doubt and incredulity that, indeed, you have no expiration date at all.

Guest blogger: Maryse G. Copans, translator by trade and life lover at heart. She lives in the New York metro area with my husband and two children &  can be reached via e-mail: wifsdream28@gmail.com –   on Twitter: @wifsie  (where I’ve created the word game @loqwacious) and on FaceBook.