For half of my life (at least as of recently) I wandered around aimlessly. I didn’t really have a plan other than what I thought life required: a home that could be admired, a stable job with upward movement, and plenty of fun and entertainment in the form of travel, trendy restaurants, parties, and a never-ending acquisition of fashionable material possessions.

Those were also the time when I wondered if that was all there is to life. I thought back of my childhood dreams and felt this unsettledness inside that somehow there must be more. During my morning runs I would pretend that after the hill I just huffed up the ocean would unfold. Just one of the many day dreams from that time, since, of course, the ocean is not visible in the middle of Texas.

Despite not wanting to accept my reality, I resigned myself to it. This was the life I somehow chose and was meant to live until I die. Sure, I had accomplished a few of the things I always wanted. But the remainder was more or less what fell into my lap and I went with it.

I was not unhappy. But I did not feel that I was living my life at its fullest potential.

The missing link was a vision. I had goals and tasks I wanted to achieve. A degree, a Green Card, a well-paid job, and more. Those were means to an end. Steps on a path. But I had no path.

I think most of us have taken on a path in life by happenstance. Life brought us here.

We took this road or that one, we settled with life, sometimes out of necessity, other times because we wanted to, or possibly because we forced.

We think of life as snippets of a movie – get into the best school so we have a better chance of getting a job; get the job that pays well, marry a certain person so we can have the perfect family; buy a home in a certain neighborhood …. And so on.

After I accomplished most of these unwritten checklist items, I wondered – this cannot be all. Today I know with certainty – there is more.

Life is more than the random assembly of things and experiences. But in order to experience more, we need a vision. And the vision comes from our passions and our dreams.

• A vision is the story YOU write for your life. Its not the story that has been written by others – it’s the one you decide on.
• The story is the one you want to live. Its what’s true for you.
• You create your vision based on your passions, your desires, your hopes and your dreams.
  • If you don’t know what these are, then start asking yourself.
  • Sometimes they are buried.
  • Someone, maybe you, long time ago buried them because they didn’t seem reasonable.
  • Start living more consciously – be kind to your body and your mind – and your passions will slowly become clearer.
• Your vision the red thread that you want to follow as you face important decisions
• As you will face difficulties, you will use your vision to help you navigate
• With a vision, your life will take on meaning.
  • Without a vision life is mechanical, from one thing to another.
  • With a vision, life is a continuum, a growing path of learning, wisdom, and inner fulfillment.
  • The vision will move you out of stuck and pull you forward.
• Your vision will heal you.
  • It will help you identify the emotions, thoughts and behaviors that control you.
  • It will guide you towards actions that free you.
• A vision will prepare you
  • Pursuing your passion is not an easy endeavor, but with your vision on your mind, you will take bolder steps, more daring risks, and create opportunity for yourself and those around you
• You know when you have a vision when you experience joy and peace while working harder as ever.

Seek your vision. As you seek, it will unfold. But you have to ask, you have to look and you have to listen. Its there. Everyone has it. Once you see glimmers, it will reveal itself. Trust and continue.