The Perfect Day: Awakening the Dreamer Within

Dreams

“We aren’t who we want to be. We are what society demands. We are what our parents choose. We don’t want to disappoint anyone; we have a great need to be loved. So we smother the best in us. Gradually, the light of our dreams turns into the monster of our nightmares. They become things not done, possibilities not lived” ~Adultery, by Paulo Coelho

What do we normally do from the time we get up in the morning, till we go back to bed? Is it what we truly desire, or is it just another day of doing what we have to do?

How much of your day do you spend on what’s important to you? What standards and values do you live by? Are they yours, or someone else’s?

How do you feel about your routine and life in general? Are you satisfied? Or are you longing for something that feels fuzzy and out of reach? Do you look forward to starting your day? Or do you wake up dreading the responsibilities and what you have to do?

How much intention is behind your day-to-day life, and how much of it is unconscious?

If you live with purpose and intention, great, you’re more awake than most of us.

But if you feel driven by outside demands and expectations, and you don’t even remember why you do half of the things you do (other then having to), then read with me and try to answer the questions as honestly as possible.

Let’s use this time and space to get back to our truth, our dreams, and our priorities.

The perfect day

You might’ve heard this question many times in the past. I sure did. But how many times did you stop to answer the question—in vivid detail? I can’t recall the last time I attempted an answer, let alone a specific one. So here it goes.

If you woke up this morning and made a wish to have the perfect day, and your wish came true, how would your day go?

What is a perfect day for you? What are the ideal hours and moments you could experience today?

The ideal, or perfect, day is not meant to be an abstract concept. It’s about getting up in the morning and doing, and experiencing, what you want to experience.

Let’s dig into specifics. And we’re going to answer in the present tense, as if we’re already living the answers to the following questions right now.

The morning

At what time do you get out of bed? What do you do after? Are you going to exercise, meditate, shower, write, or have breakfast with family? By the way, what’s for breakfast?

How’s your pace? Are you rushing through your morning, or are you moving with ease? Do you feel relaxed, or frazzled?

To work, or not to work

What are you going to do next? Are you going to stay home, or work somewhere else? If you’re leaving your house, are you driving, taking the bus, or walking? How do you feel about the commute?

What are you going to work on, if you’re working? How do you feel about what you’re doing? Do you get a sense of contribution from your work? How good are you at what you’re doing?

If you don’t have a job, what are you doing with your time? Are you creating something? Are you helping someone? Are you learning something? Are you relaxing? Are you getting support from others? Who’s guiding you?

What are the important things you do that you consider productive?

Beyond work

What are you having for lunch? What do you do on your breaks?

How much do you get to relax and just be?

What images, sounds, and smells are you experiencing?

Who are the people you’re interacting with? Do you feel loved and loving? Do you feel respected and appreciated?

How much do you laugh?

How do you spend your evening? Are you alone? Or are you with someone special? Or are you with your family? What do you do to unwind and ground yourself?

Do you have time alone for reflection? Are you grateful for the life you have?

When do you go to bed? Do you have a bedtime routine? At the end of the day, do you have any regrets?

Try to answer these questions (or your own questions) about your perfect day, in as much detail as possible. See what comes up. You can revisit the idea from time to time, and reflect on your ideal day.

A few considerations

You might find the following thoughts helpful as you contemplate the questions, and your answers.

Your perfect day is yours. What is ideal to you might be boring, or too much for others. This is about you finding your way back to you.

Things change. Life is about growth and change. So your perfect day might change, as you evolve and gain more clarity.

The only time we have is now. This exercise is about living today—the best way possible, not some time in the future. If your perfect day feels like it’s impossible to you, start with the tiniest thing you can do today for your day to be a step closer to being your ideal day.

Go with how you feel. Every experience and thought is reflected back to us in an internal feeling. When you don’t know what you want to do, or what you’d like to do seems out of reach, go with how you would like to feel. What’s stopping you from feeling this way right now?

Do what you love, or love what you do. Some of us live their dreams. Others are getting there. And for some, they don’t have a big dream or goal. All the possibilities are okay, if you’re okay with them. If you don’t have a dream job, or something you want to do, imagine what it will feel like to be really good at what you do. There is great joy in mastering anything. Incorporate the skills of a job well done into your perfect day.

Life will interrupt. And there is nothing we can do about it, other than deal with the interruption the best we can. This shouldn’t take away from the joy we experience most of the time, when we’re fully awake to our moments and days. Even in adverse situations, we will cope better when we experience the interruptions through a lens of clarity and purpose.

Assume no one is watching, or judging, you. When you imagine your ideal day in vivid detail, do your best not to consider what others would think, or how they’d react to your choices. It’s really hard to ignore what society and others expect from us. But it’s crucial, when we’re trying to align our choices and actions with our truth.

We all know perfection is not attainable. But it can provide valuable insight into what we want to do and how we want to live. And in that space of truthful alignment we get to experience our life in the best possible way.

To your truth … to your dreams … to your life!


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