What Do You Want to Manifest in the Next 5 Years?
I had to chew on this question for days because when I started writing I realized that I have been pushing too hard in too many directions.
I've been pretty manic lately because I have all of these big ideas that I feel such passion for. I'm carrying this deep burning need to see results ... quickly. I've been driving myself to exhaustion in a race to experience everything that ignites my interest. I don't really know why there's such a sense of urgency in my heart.
We can manifest our dreams by creating a vision for our lives and deliberately choosing actions, beliefs and feelings that support our vision. I know it's not always easy to stay focused on our dreams with so many distractions & responsibilities but step by step, if we stay mindful, we will realize our dreams.
I sincerely appreciate this challenge because it's forcing me to pull back the reins for a moment and meditate on what I would really like to manifest over the next five years. It's been very calming and therapeutic.
Having written out my dreams in some kind of orderly fashion I feel less panicked about getting everything done "now". It all seems less monumental and I can see a clear path. Thank you 
Health and Endurance
In five year's I'll be 47 and just writing that down makes me fearful. There's so much I want to do and I feel like I wasted time doing things I was not meant to do. There's this perpetual sense that I need to catch up. Maybe that's why I am feeling such urgency to cram in as much as I can all of the time.
Physically I'm starting to feel aches that I never felt before even with regular stretching and exercise. I'm not feeling like a 20 year old anymore and it sort of sucks because I've always been quite a work horse able to accomplish and push myself really hard.
I want to become more diligent and skilful at yoga and also become better at meditation. My husband and I need to focus heavily on ensuring our minds and bodies are in top form. It would be tragic if we slacked off in this area and could not do realize our dreams due to physical limitations.
In five years I will be relatively skilled at yoga and meditation and it will be an essential part of my daily routine.
Music
I want to learn to play the banjo. I keep setting it aside for work and never make any progress. I love the calming effect that music has on me, and my husband plays guitar beautifully. It feels like one of those things I've been putting off forever and I am quite keen to take on this challenge.
I am not musically talented but in five years I am going to be playing songs and making sounds that are pleasant from my banjo.
Beekeeper
I am so eager to become a bee keeper, I get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it. I've been researching and studying for a few years now but for some reason I keep holding back on making this a reality.
I keep thinking I've decided on how we are going to do this and then I see new ideas that send me down a different path. I don't want to do the conventional and easy thing and It makes it harder because there's no local mentor or guides to help. I'm a little scared of failing and killing a bunch of bees.
In the next five years I will be able to say with confidence that I am a beekeeper.
A Permaculture Oasis
We've been working on getting rid of the expansive lawn on the cleared part of our property and populating it with trees, shrubs and food. We'd like this place to be more like an eclectic forest jungle / old fashioned English garden. This project involves planting an overwhelming number of plants, creating a few real ponds, and it's all just more expensive and labour intensive than I ever imagined.
In five years I will be more experienced with permaculture principles and I will have planted and nurtured hundreds of plants on this land.
Forest Forager & nurturer
Moving to our homestead I left the familiar Boreal forest of the far north and I've been finding it challenging to learn the plants and trees of our new Acadian forest. It's just so different and I had not anticipated this. I am working hard to identify and learn each tree and plant but it takes time.
We also need to explore our forest more, there is 90 acres in our stewardship. There is care, maintenance and clean up to be done after many years of neglect. I suppose we are students in all things forest because we don't really know what/how to manage all of this land.
In five years I will provide forest walks and guide and encourage other people who are interested in learning about this amazing forest. I will also know what it takes to manage our forest carefully.
Income Streams
I don't have a day job any more and as careful as we are it still costs money to live on this fine earth. We would like some cash crops, and other small income streams that we can rely on.
We've had a few failed starts where the land was just not ready for what we were asking of it (garlic) but we've been improving the soil patiently. Our dream is to sell perennial food plants (garlic, Jerusalem artichoke, roses, raspberry, blackberry etc) from the homestead. I would like to have a stand at the farmers market with high quality goods (jams, jellies, herbs, soaps etc) and I would love to teach some classes here at the homestead, sharing our knowledge with others. I would also like to be able to make money from photography. Then there is blogging, something I really do love. I've put so much of myself into blogging that I'd like to see some results.
In five years I will have succeeded in some of my entrepreneurial ventures, especially sharing and teaching our knowledge, photography and blogging.
Community & Socialization
We still feel quite isolated where we live. We've not become part of the community (there isn't one nearby) and I would like to try and reach out of my comfort zone and start seeking out like minded people to connect with in person. This is really challenging for me and my husband is even worse so it's not going to be easy.
We have opened up our homestead to visitors several times to would be homesteaders wanting to start this life and looking for insights. It's been really rewarding and confidence boosting. I've learned I have more to offer and more knowledge than I actually believed I had. We've made some really good long distance friends through it. Maybe we will do more of this, it certainly stretches me out of my comfort zone.
I would also like to become part of something more than just my blog on steemit. I have trouble with video and with discord working at times and sometimes I feel like I am missing something. I love projects and have time for them in the winter so I am hoping to find something I can really get involved in and feel part of. Maybe even start my own initiative ... It's something that I'm still chewing on.
In five years I will have a few like minded friends to spend time with from time to time. I will also be heavily involved in a positive initiative here on steemit.
Spirit and self
I am still working on facing shadows, the ones that hold me back and weight me down, appreciating and liking myself and simply feeling free enough to admit that sometimes I am too nice. I conceal my true self and suffer through miserable situations quietly rather than causing "pain" to others who are rigid and unwilling to dig deeper and share on a real level. I still do a lot of things that hold back my spiritual freedom and growth even though I am aware of it and a lot of it is based on my fear of "hurting others".
In five years I would like to say that I have overcome those things that hurt me most and that I feel free enough to be me, as I am to all people. In five years I will be free enough in spirit to hold nothing back, to howl at the moon and dance naked in the woods if that's what I want to do. This is the thing I am least confident in and perhaps the one I need to focus on most.
I also want to learn how to weave baskets, paint, sing, make paper and well ... lets just say the sky is the limit really. Every day I learn something new that ignites my curiosity and desire to try it. I've got a thirst to learn and do and accept that I can't be master of all things, in fact there is nothing much that I can say I have mastered because there is always a next level. I do believe that I can do a good enough job to satisfy myself and feel joy in the experience. At the end of the day, that's what matters most right?
I am lucky in that I have a partner that shares many of my dreams and is on board with the others. He's been a big champion in my quest for healing and growing my spirit and self and all of this truly hinges on this partnership and our unified efforts to manifest our dreams.
Be bold, believe it possible and start making those dream a reality. What Do You Want to Manifest in the Next 5 Years?
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