Dreams

There are a few words thrown around when talking about the future.
Dreams, wishes, goals, hopes, vision, ambition. Of these words there are a multitude of denotations and connotations within them.

I try to lean towards three words; dream, vision, and hope. I dream in ideals. My ideal house, husband, me, kids etc. I dream of a happy family in a safe place living next to kind neighbors and kids biking in the streets having fun.

My vision is the values I see important to my dreams. The way I can get my dream. Having money enough to give my kids a life that allows them to experience multiple aspects of life. (Travel, Study, Missions, Experience) I visualize myself on a visit to the Taj Mahal, a place of renowned beauty and elegance. My visualization is a mixture of hopes and ambition. My vision is of my on a porch swing with my husband, older and content with our selves.

My hopes include feelings and instinct. I hope that I will not break my leg walking to classes. I hope that I will live long enough to visit every continent. I hope that I will not loose my sight. I hope that aliens will not destroy the Taj Mahal in some freak hostile takeover bid, at least not until I've seen it first.

All in all I guess what I'm trying to say is, without a touch of realism, dreams will be nothing more than a damper on life. Who wants to go through life, checking off the To Do list every day, just waiting to fall asleep at night, to get to your dreams? Not me.

"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible."
- Thomas Edward Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia")