In our youth, we had time to dream lofty dreams, thinking about thoughts almost impossible for our tender ages – that we would conquer the world, be famous, make a difference through what we would do. And now we may look around and see the mess in our kitchen, our noisy children or rebellious teenage daughter pulling at our nerves. We stare at our partner, the luster perhaps gone from the exciting, mysterious man who made us once swoon. Or perhaps we had dreamt of all these things a family can offer and find ourselves still alone, wishing for that white picket fence, husband and child.
That part of us long buried in memories, which looked to the future’s unlimited potential, has now been silenced. Nowhere near is the energy to even dream for the future as you clutch at the bills staring back at you.
During that moment, one must stop and think. What is that dream of my youth that I have been continually shelving? Maybe it was the desire to learn many languages. Or perhaps be a writer, a painter, play music? Perhaps it was to be a sportswoman at top A class or help and serve in a charity. Whatever it is, the first thing is to stop and think about it and HOLD IT IN YOUR MIND CONSCIOUSLY.
Everyday, the world is created and constantly recreated by men and women who are not afraid to dream . Through visions they hold dear so deep in their hearts, they project the best of human character as they are willing to make that vision a reality. Their dreams are the driving force and purpose in their lives. Sometimes it is a great struggle. Other times, it is just learning to patiently shelve it for the time not being right.
There is a story about an award-winning writer who, at 60 years old, won a top award for her book. When interviewed on how she had the courage to pick up the pen so late in life, her response was that ever since she was a teenager, she had always known she would be a writer and that she wanted it badly. Marriage and children came. Although she performed almost 50 years of wifely duties, she always kept it in the back of her mind that she would be a writer. And she is a celebrated one now! Of course, no one can forget Grandma Moses who picked up the paint brush at 80 years old and started to exhibit her hair-style artworks.
Dreams of further knowledge, deeper appreciation and expression in the arts and sciences, the ownership of a beach house, becoming a career woman at mid-life, travel to exotic places, the kinds of dreams are as countless as the stars in the sky. What is important is never to let these dreams go and begin to work towards it no matter how far it may seem to be. Small steps make the long journey and the prize at the end all the more sweeter at the effort and time needed to get there.
Sometimes, however, we may have to re-assess the dream goal as financial or time constraints may pose problems. When this happens, just drop your expectations. You wanted to go to Tibet and can’t? Well try something new closer to home like wild river rafting. Write a book? Begin by offering to write articles or check your writing style in a daily journal. Want a beach house? OK, it need not be in Malibu. Be realistic and re-assess that dream then begin planning steps to get there.
A second thing to be done is to assess one’s self and reaction to the dream when you think about it now. What are the emotions that come with thinking about the dream? Do you find behind that practical nature, the fear of trying something new? Are you afraid of losing the gamble and never getting there? Are you afraid of what people will say as you attempt to do the seeming impractical or impossible when seen from the context of your life today? Sometimes the hindrances in going for our dreams are our very own feelings of inadequacy.
Life is not meant to have regrets. Or "should-have-had," "could-have-been" thoughts. Rather, it must be about the endless possibilities of being human and still alive. When you can capture this spirit in your everyday life, then you join the ranks of many very ordinary citizens of the world who set out daily to reach for their dreams. This process is an awakened journey that allows them to take as much of the direction of their lives in their own hands, within the potentials of a destiny that the Universe and God have set out for them. Everyone has this chance. We should just choose it.
(E-mail me at jej1@easycall.com.ph)