One of the most delightful ways I can spend a few minutes is to sit quietly and unnoticed and listen in on the conversations of my younger children. It may be between Josiah and Kia, our two five-year old boys that are just six weeks apart. Or it could be between our five girls, Anabella, Viergine, Lillia, Florencia and Olesya, that are all within just 30 months of each other.
It doesn’t take long for them to start imagining, dreaming and planning. There are giggles, sharing, discussing, give-and-take, and excitement. They’re dreaming….about how to decorate their room, how to build a better roller coaster, what they’ll make Dad for his birthday, or even what they’ll be when they grow-up.
What saddens me is that you rarely overhear those same types of discussions in the college cafeteria, the local coffee shop or at a women’s tea. When do we stop dreaming? And why?
Have you given up dreaming? Has the reality and urgency of life today overwhelmed you? Are those childhood dreams you once freely shared and giggled about with your siblings, your parents, and your friends, buried? Sure, some of the dreams have since changed or were unrealistic. And maybe a few of those dreams, for some of us, have come true.
But when was the last time you really gave yourself permission to dream? To think about what could be, and if even just for a second, to imagine how it would be? If a dream is perhaps too big to think about, what about a goal? Have you set some? Are you working toward one or two right now? I don’t mean the job-performance goals your supervisor requires each year. The goals and dreams I’m talking about are something that makes your heart pound, your mind soar, and a smile to spread across your face…They give you a spring to your step, and might even get you out of bed a little easier in the cold mornings…
Do you have one of those dreams? Have you set one of those goals?
I don’t know about you, but I get inspired reading quotes from others who express ideas far better than I ever could. I’ve gathered a few favorite quotes about dreams and dreaming, and I hope that one or two might inspire and encourage you just a little, as you remember what it was like to be carefree and to dream. And as you remember, maybe you’ll give yourself permission to take the chance at dreaming again….After all, what do you really have to lose?
- A dream is a wish your heart makes. Annette Funicello
- Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain
- Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. Harriet Tubman
- “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4
- A man’s dreams are an index to his greatness. Zadok Rabinowitz
- Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
