Dreams

When this day falls each year, my thoughts turn to my dreams, as well as to the dreams of others. I can remember imagining as a kid being able to see a movie any time I wanted, or pausing a tv show while I left the room when my mom called me. Some things I imagine just seemed to happen. Without my personal input, some thirty plus years have passed and these and many other imaginings have become my current reality. I think of these sometimes as realized dreams. But the dreams I really need to focus on are dreams that I can make happen.

Some things that I really want I have to work hard to get. I set my mind to it and devote my energy to making it real. This is why I have an education. There was no one in my family that I could follow the footsteps of, although I found my own mentors along the way. There was no one who would do the work for me. Looking back I feel so extremely blessed to have people in my life at just the right time to challenge me to give my best and to do what I needed to do to get what I wanted. I was also blessed with a mind that made learning easy for most things. I was blessed to be born in a land where education was compulsory to some extent, and then available to anyone who was willing to work and pay for it.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is remembered by many today as a man with a dream of peace. I know that many today wonder how much of his dream has been realized. I know many young people today, my own children included, don't seem to get why King's dream is such a big deal. That, I think is progress. God created us all to give glory to Him. He also expects us to treat others well as that is a way that we show our love to God himself. I pray that King's dream is realized, but in reality it starts with me...and then you..and then...the world. People in general don't have a good track record for being good to each other. Especially not to others that are considered different or outsiders.

For something to happen, you first have to dream it. It has to be a picture in your mind or else you are living without purpose. I was posed a question a couple of weeks ago. The question was, what would I dream if I knew that it would be one that would come true? Followed by the question, what is stopping me? For me, the answer I know is that at the end of my days, when I stand in front of my creator, the love of my life, that He will tell me, "Well done, my lovely child." What is stopping me from realizing my dream? That is my life journey.

"The time is always right to do what is right."
--Martin Luther King Jr.,Nobel Peace Prize recipient and civil rights activist