Food for Thought: Water Your Dreams with Optimism

~ Julie de Rohan, eatonomy®

“Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.”  – Lao Tzu

So you’ve crystallised your dreams for the future and you’ve planted the seeds of your desires in the (hopefully) fertile soil of the new year.

Now take a moment to look inward and tell me – do you expect your dreams ultimately to grow and blossom, or wither and die?

Be honest.

Your answer makes all the difference.

As a rather inept gardener who has a tendency towards pessimism, this quote speaks to me.

It’s a timely reminder that, as we sow the seeds of our dreams for this year, we mustn’t forget they need to be tended as they grow.

Lao Tzu urges us to nurture them with confidence and optimism.

Optimism doesn’t involve putting a positive spin on everything. It simply means we assume things will work out well in the end. We believe our dreams will grow and blossom, rather than wither and die.

When we hit a stumbling block, we don’t allow it to kill our dream. Instead, we see it for what it is – an obstacle to be negotiated as we continue on our journey.

So rather than despair about our challenges this year, why don’t we pick ourselves up on our pessimism and focus on finding solutions?

Let’s stay open to our experience and look for ways to nurture our seedlings.

Let’s water our dreams with optimism until they’re fully bloomed.

Then we can say with absolute satisfaction and authentic pride – “I cultivated my dream. I saw it through to the end. I did this”. 

©️ Julie de Rohan 2020.

Published by Julie de Rohan, eatonomy®

A binge eating disorder specialist therapist helping people struggling with compulsive eating, emotional eating and binge eating.

48 thoughts on “Food for Thought: Water Your Dreams with Optimism”

  6. Ah, Julie, Julie, Julie you once again inspire me (I’m on the laptop so no wink+kiss emoji lol) I love this it is so what I need at the moment as I’m in that ‘Can Do’ mode and you’ve just reinforced it. Hope you have the phenomenal 2020 you deserve and loom forward to more of your writing this year X

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    1. I’m so glad this post was useful to you, Charlie, and hope it helps to spur you on to achieving what you want this year (I know you have exciting plans!). Thank you for your kind wishes, I wish the same for you and hope you maintain your “Can Do” attitude. Have a fantastic 2020.

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  11. I think many of us probably anticipate the worst, albeit subconsciously, and it’s a kind of self-sabotage. If you don’t believe it’s going to happen and you don’t believe in your abilities, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Nourish those dreams with optimism and confidence.. I love it, I can imagine that making a lot of difference. Another great post, Julie!
    Caz xx

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’m the worst at it, Caz! As I said in the post, I have a tendency towards pessimism so I constantly have to pick myself up on my negative thoughts. Otherwise, as you say, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Many thanks for your comment and Happy New Year to you.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you! de Rohan is actually a French surname and I think Rohan is an Indian first name which derives from the French (although I’m an Australian who’s been living in the UK most of her life). A very Happy New Year to you and your family too, many thanks for your comment.

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    1. Thank you so much, Chris. I’m afraid I don’t participate in awards but I’m very touched you thought of me. Congratulations on your very well deserved Sunshine Blogger Award.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you for your kind words, Julie. I completely understand and I have to admit, I spent a couple of days writing a response to the nomination. It is time-consuming but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
        Nominating you was easy. Your blog is one of my favorites but as I said, I understand not participating.
        Many hugs 🤗

        Liked by 1 person

      2. That’s a lovely thing to say, Chris, thank you. I really enjoy your blog too – I especially enjoyed reading your responses to the award questions. I hope you have a great week!

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  19. Pingback: Food for Thought: Water Your Dreams with Optimism — Julie de Rohan – HeartyPsych

  20. I just ran across this post and loved it. My favorite line is, “Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success.” Thank for sharing this post.

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