Tag Archives: dreams

Hold Fast To Dreams… They Do Come True

Hello friends, and welcome back to Natalie Belle Blog! If I’m being honest, I had an idea for today’s post but then got carried away with everything else I had to do today, so I was extremely close to reposting instead of writing something new. Yet, I’m here at 10:58, slightly mentally out of it from adrenaline and exhaustion. If you’re curious why I’m starting from scratch at this hour, it’s because tonight’s victory for the UNC Tar Heels reminded me of an important lesson.

For context, I’m a massive UNC Basketball fan, and around this time every year, the Heels play their archrival Duke in the last game of the regular season. This year Duke hosted, and their home arena at Cameron Indoor is infamously difficult to win in as the visiting team. Last season, Duke won both games in the series, which was frustrating and disappointing on top of Carolina’s already-lackluster season. All I wanted was for my Heels to win, and it felt impossible.

Thus, despite UNC’s much better season this year, I was still nervous going into these matchups, especially today. Duke had improved since our win against them in February, the stakes were high, and it was at Cameron. What if we fell back to last year’s trap of “close but not close enough”?

Spoiler alert- we didn’t. We absolutely crushed those… (Fill in whatever you may feel appropriate to describe the Duke Basketball Team) Cormac Ryan went off for 31 points, led the Heels to an ACC regular season championship, and of course, we beat Duke.

No, the lesson I was reminded of was not that UNC practically owns Duke (I think about that one nearly every day), but rather that dreams do come true: you just need to hold on to them.

Not only did all those amazing things happen, but my sister was there to watch them with me. She’s never been a huge sports fan until the last matchup with Duke in February when she watched the whole game. I’ve been wanting to share my love for UNC sports with her for so long, and the past few weeks have been so fun to see her turn into a basketball-crazy person.

The culmination of all these things also brought me back to this Langston Hughes poem:

Hold fast to dreams 
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Dreams by Langston Hughes

It can be so hard to hold on to your dreams and continue to pursue your dreams when they seem so distant, but what is life without dreams?

Don’t worry, I have more dreams than just a win over Duke. Many of them are long-term, though, making them hard to see and hold on to. I’m grateful for this little instance that renewed my inspiration to hold on through the difficulty.

I hope this post (although short) also helped you remember to hold fast to your dreams! What is your dream? Leave it in the comments below!

❤️,

Natalie B

How You Can Dream Big In 2024

Hello friends, and welcome to Natalie Belle Blog! I hope your week has been fantastic. Today, I’m going on a road trip with my family, so I am reposting this weekend. It’s a great read, though, especially considering that today is National Vision Board Day! (You’ll understand why this is important later.) I hope this post inspires you to achieve whatever you put your mind to this year. Enjoy!

Once the holiday season ends and reality hits, it’s easy to get caught up in the mundane cycle of everyday life. Just trying to get through each day, achieving what needs to be done and leaving it at that. We’re all guilty of that pattern in some way or another, but how will you escape without big dreams? And how will you make those dreams come true through minimal progress?

Every successful person is a dreamer. You can’t wake up one day and create a company that becomes a multi-million franchise on your first try, for example. It takes years of trial, error, money, and talent. That idea discourages some people, though. As humans, we’re impatient. If we can’t get it now, why are we working for it? Then we decide that it isn’t worth it, or is impossible, and convince ourselves that we really are “fine” with what our life looks like. This quote says it differently, however:

“The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow it.”

Kalpana Chawla

So how do you make your dreams a reality? How do you even create dreams?

Well, that answer looks different for each person. It’s really up for you to ponder individually, but today, I’m sharing some methods on how you can get on that track!

Create A Vision Board

Today is National Vision Board Day (yes, that’s a thing)- so what better time than the present?! In synopsis, they are personal collages of images, drawings, and words (or anything else you can find) to remind you of what you want to accomplish. The one I created includes things like books to represent my goal of reading more, the word “extraordinary” to remind myself that I am extraordinary and therefore can create extraordinary things, and the words “quality sleep”- so I am literally dreaming big!

In September, I wrote a blog post (How To Make Your Own Vision Board In 4 Simple Steps) that includes why vision boards are crucial to dreams and goal-setting, and how you can easily create your own. I strongly encourage reading it and creating your own!

Think About Your Dream Self

On a piece of paper, write down aspects of your ideal life and who you want to be. What qualities do you want to attain? What kind of person do you want to be? What does your dream life have?

Remember that your ideal self and life are not the same thing. In fact, I think being the best version of yourself is more important- you can have everything you want in life but still not be happy. Personal development is key to both.

Set Goals For Yourself

You’ve probably heard this advice a million times, so I’ll keep it short, but it really is effective. Here are a few blog posts I’ve written about goals:

Don’t Limit Your Ideas & Embrace Your Uniqueness

Think outside the box! Dreams are dreams because they seem unattainable. With effort, perseverance, and enthusiasm, you can accomplish much more than you think. You are the only version of yourself to ever exist, so there are things out there that only you can do! Get out of your comfort zone and dream big.

Find The Value In Each Day And Use It

Every day is a new opportunity to work toward success. It’s up to you how you use it- or don’t. The choice is yours.

Going back to the beginning, it’s so easy to just try to “get through the day”. Once you realize the value of the time you’re given, though, inspiration and motivation come with it. You can do this by something as simple as writing down something good that happened or your goal for the day ahead.

Don’t Chase Perfection

Nothing is without flaw- so why lose sleep over lack of perfection? Acknowledge that there may be adversity. Things may not go according to plan. But that’s okay! Perfect is boring. Failures are preparing you for something the future has in store, which could end up being better than you could even imagine!

I hope this post encouraged you to dream big! What’s one thing you want to accomplish most in life? Comment it below!

❤️,

Natalie B

How You Can Dream Big In 2023

Hi friends, welcome to Natalie Belle Blog! I hope you had a fantastic week and are getting back into the swing of things this new year.

Once the holiday season ends and reality hits, it’s easy to get caught up in the mundane cycle of everyday life. Just trying to get through each day, achieving what needs to be done and leaving it at that. We’re all guilty of that pattern in some way or another, but how will you escape without big dreams? And how will you make those dreams come true through minimal progress?

Every successful person is a dreamer. You can’t wake up one day and create a company that becomes a multi-million franchise on your first try, for example. It takes years of trial, error, money, and talent. That idea discourages some people, though. As humans, we’re impatient. If we can’t get it now, why are we working for it? Then we decide that it isn’t worth it, or is impossible, and convince ourselves that we really are “fine” with what our life looks like. This quote says it differently, however:

“The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow it.”

Kalpana Chawla

So how do you make your dreams a reality? How do you even create dreams?

Well, that answer looks different for each person. It’s really up for you to ponder individually, but today, I’m sharing some methods on how you can get on that track!

Create A Vision Board

Today is National Vision Board Day (yes, that’s a thing)- so what better time than the present?! In synopsis, they are personal collages of images, drawings, and words (or anything else you can find) to remind you of what you want to accomplish. The one I created includes things like books to represent my goal of reading more, the word “extraordinary” to remind myself that I am extraordinary and therefore can create extraordinary things, and the words “quality sleep”- so I am literally dreaming big!

In September, I wrote a blog post (How To Make Your Own Vision Board In 4 Simple Steps) that includes why vision boards are crucial to dreams and goal-setting, and how you can easily create your own. I strongly encourage reading it and creating your own!

Think About Your Dream Self

On a piece of paper, write down aspects of your ideal life and who you want to be. What qualities do you want to attain? What kind of person do you want to be? What does your dream life have?

Remember that your ideal self and life are not the same thing. In fact, I think being the best version of yourself is more important- you can have everything you want in life but still not be happy. Personal development is key to both.

Set Goals For Yourself

You’ve probably heard this advice a million times, so I’ll keep it short, but it really is effective. Here are a few blog posts I’ve written about goals:

Don’t Limit Your Ideas & Embrace Your Uniqueness

Think outside the box! Dreams are dreams because they seem unattainable. With effort, perseverance, and enthusiasm, you can accomplish much more than you think. You are the only version of yourself to ever exist, so there are things out there that only you can do! Get out of your comfort zone and dream big.

Find The Value In Each Day And Use It

Every day is a new opportunity to work toward success. It’s up to you how you use it- or don’t. The choice is yours.

Going back to the beginning, it’s so easy to just try to “get through the day”. Once you realize the value of the time you’re given, though, inspiration and motivation come with it. You can do this by something as simple as writing down something good that happened or your goal for the day ahead.

Don’t Chase Perfection

Nothing is without flaw- so why lose sleep over lack of perfection? Acknowledge that there may be adversity. Things may not go according to plan. But that’s okay! Perfect is boring. Failures are preparing you for something the future has in store, which could end up being better than you could even imagine!

I hope this post encouraged you to dream big! What’s one thing you want to accomplish most in life? Comment it below!

❤️,

Natalie B