Proverbs 29:19 - Where there is no vision, the people perish.

Proverbs 13:12 - Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desired fulfilled is a tree of life.

Another year comes to a close. There have been victories, defeats, highs and lows. Engagements, marriage, births, deaths, tragedies, and inspirations.

I used to buy into the idea of resolutions this time of year. There is something about acknowledging another calendar year passing, that creates enough reflection in me, to acknowledge there was something more I wished I could have pulled out of the past year. Something that I will (perhaps again) set my sights on for the coming year(s) - whatever that may be.

Can you relate?

If resolutions are the goals we set our eyes on, then what is the driving force behind them?

This year - for me - was the most introspective and reflective year of my life. Dots were connected, lines were drawn, pruning was done, missing pieces were found, and dreams were uncovered. And perhaps, for the first time in my life, I discovered the secret to true fulfillment.

Hope. Dreams. Understanding.

Hope has always been my super power. Hope is the foundation that has held up, and sustained my life time and time again. Even when I wasn't aware that I had hope that ran so deep. And acted on my behalf, when I wasn't capable of acting at all.

Hope is like the sun, it is always there even when you are in the dark. In the darkest moments of my life, when I had intellectually given up, the hope in my soul took me another step. But hope alone is not enough. It was backed by something else. Something embedded in my soul, that the darkness wanted to devour; yet the pain uncovered. Time and time again. And in the process, brought things to life in me, that brought me in touch with myself. And there, I found another magnificent and profound state of being. I discovered what it was to dream - really dream.

To Dream Out Loud.

Dreams are the fuel hope runs on. The most powerful and creative force inside of us, is our imagination. Everything we live by, all of our beliefs - every parameter of our identity is tied to the way we "imagine" them. Imagination is the pregnancy, manifestation is the birth. What we imagine to be, is what is - according to us. According to what was imagination turned belief, turned reality. Be it good or bad, positive of negative, we are always imagining and thus creating. Dreaming is the extension of desiring. Desiring is the extension of fulfillment. And fulfillment is the extension of identity.

Understanding is the marriage between the two. When our understanding of hope creates enough desire, imagination takes over and dreams are born.

If we aren't dreaming, we are just breathing.

When we let the imagination of dreaming, breathe life into our destiny, we leave a legacy of hope that love will always exist. Because of those who were brave enough and bold enough, to embrace the beauty and power of their existence. So the world would know hope all over again.

No matter where 2017 left you, let 2018 be the year you unleashed yourself - fearlessly. That love and hope would be an extension of your dreams made reality.

What is the ache and longing of your soul? Are willing to risk looking like a fool to pursue your dreams, goals and desires? Will you let go of the illusion of fear, to embrace the fulfillment of life? Will you embrace the longing of your soul, and expose it in the language of love, to prove to the world that 2018 is the year of hope. Will you sit with pain, someone else's or your own? Will you look for the clues in confusion that problems often bring, knowing that the empowering secret to your becoming, is hidden within them? Are you willing to disappoint someone else, to be true to your true-self? Are you willing to bear the accusation of betrayal, and not betray your own soul? Can you source the life from your heart, and bestow it upon others?

Will you cast off all that hinders, to run your race?

Will you show the world you are greater than the worst, of your worst days?

Will you dream out loud?