Take a deep breath and make yourself comfortable. As you close your eyes, imagine that you are lying in your bed and snuggling under your covers. You feel pleasantly warm and drowsy. You stretch your arms and legs as you take a deep breath...breathe in and then slowly let the air flow out again. Just let yourself be quiet and listen to what I describe so that you can experience it as if you are really there.

As you continue to snuggle in your bed, imagine that you are looking up at the ceiling. But instead of the ceiling, you see a rainbow of colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. The colors seem to blend into one another almost as if they were drawn on silk and gently swaying in a soft breeze. As you continue to look at these colors, you begin to notice that instead of a ceiling, there is a brightly colored hot air balloon attached to your bed. And your bed is resting in the basket of the balloon. On the outside of the basket are several ropes hanging down.

And instead of windows by your bedside, you look directly up into the sky and see great billowy rain clouds. As you lie in the basket of the balloon feeling very warm and cozy, a very gentle rain begins to fall. You can hear the pitter-patter of the raindrops falling on the balloon. You see the rivulets of water scurrying down the sides of the balloon. However, even as this gentle rain falls, you can see the rays of the sun peaking through the clouds. The sunshine makes the raindrops sparkle like diamonds. It is so magical just fully experiencing this gentle rain shower snuggling under your warm covers.

As you inhale deeply, you can smell the fresh, wet air. It smells so clean and refreshing. You exhale slowly feeling the gentle relaxation flowing through your body. Allowing yourself to fully focus on the experience of this rain shower while you slowly inhale, and exhale. Soon, just as suddenly as the rain started, it stops. You see a few stray raindrops flowing down the side of the balloon sparkling in the sunshine. You see them drip onto the basket.

As you continue to snuggle in your bed breathing slowly, you notice that the balloon starts moving. You can feel the gentle sway as the basket lifts off the ground.

You feel warm rays of the sun shining down on your head...The muscles in your face relaxing in the warmth...your face and neck and shoulders feel so relaxed and comfortable...You feel the warm relaxation flowing down your body, all the way to your feet. You feel so comfortable and relaxed, so safe and secure in your bed.

As the balloon floats up into the sky, you notice all the colors of the balloon flowing across the sky, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. As you delight in this beautiful flow of colors, you begin to realize that you are seeing a rainbow that embraces the entire sky. The balloon floats up and up to the rainbow and soon you become immersed in the rainbow itself. You feel each color of the rainbow flowing through you. Each color is unique and brings a special experience with it. Allow yourself to experience fully the red, the orange, the yellow, the green, the blue, and the violet of the rainbow. Soak up each delicious color and the experience it provides.

As the balloon continues to float through the rainbow, you see the rainbow reaching across the sky until you see that at the end of the rainbow is the fabled pot of gold—of riches. But what makes a person rich isn't the same for everybody. Think of the pot of gold as your dreams and desires for yourself. What you want your life to be. What will make you happy. This can be different for different people. And it can be different at different points in your life. Sometimes it may be more immediate goals and sometimes it can be something far into the future.

Think of what you are good at. By examining your talents you can develop realistic achievable dreams. Usually we like the things we are good at. Think about how you can improve. How can you achieve what you want? Try on your dreams. Imagine what it is like. This part is often easier—to let yourself dream and fully experience your desires for your life.

However, the difference between people who succeed with their dreams and those who don't is often due to developing the steps to achieve the dream.

So now, think about what you can do to get there.

Achieving dreams may not be easy. People who succeed risk failure and may even fail many times. But they keep trying. They focus on their dream, they believe in the dream and they believe in themselves. And they continue to strive for their dreams, no matter the obstacles.

You can achieve what you want, too. But you need to look at more than the dream itself. You need to look at the steps that can get you there. After you have fully visualized your dream, think of what immediately preceded that dream. What was the last thing you did before that dream was realized? Once you have that in your mind, continue backwards in your mind imagining what occurred just before that. And then what occurred before that. And before that. Eventually you will be able to imagine all the steps you need to take to realize your dream.

You may not have all the steps right now but when you return to a wakeful state you can write down the steps that you have discovered. Each time you listen to this you may be able to add more steps to your plan to achieve your dream. Soon you will know the steps and you can take your first step down the path to your dreams.

Dreams are possible if you are willing to take the risk and pursue them. Each person who succeeds starts with the step they can do today. You don't become a world-class athlete or the owner of a successful business by luck. You achieve your dreams by taking the step you can take today. That step can even be developing the steps. But once you have your plan, all you need to do is to take the next step. And to persist. Keep trying no matter what happens.

So as you look into the pot of gold at the end of rainbow, you realize that all your dreams are within your reach. You just need to be willing to pursue them no matter what. As the balloon begins to float back the way you came, you snuggle deep into your bed, breathing slowly as you drift in and out of very pleasant dreams.

You sleep a very restful and refreshing sleep until you gently wake up whenever you are ready.