Childhood Dreams

"A dream is a wish your heart makes" says the familiar Disney tune from Cinderella.  What is the importance of dreaming?  Does it make us hope for things that will never happen?  Or does it give us something to shoot for, to work towards? 

Randy Pausch, a Professor from Carnegie Mellon, said in his "Last Lecture", which was just weeks before his death from Pancreatic Cancer that he had no regrets.  He was happy.  He had achieved so many of his goals.  Randy realized at a young age what his dreams were, and then figured out how to make them happen.  It wasn't easy.  He had to work hard and face challenges.  But when faced with a challenge, or as he called it, a brick wall, he recognized that "brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want things.  The walls stop people who don't want it badly enough."  His parents recognized his creativity and encouraged it.  They let him be the "master of his own domain". 

Where do I want to be?  What do I want to do?  Identifying my dreams will guide me as I set goals in my life.  If I want to be a doctor, then I need to study hard.  If I want to be a vet, then I need to be comfortable around animals.  I need to set smaller checkpoints to make sure I am headed in the right direction.  Dreams can come true.  They may not be in the way we originally thought.  There is a feeling of achievement when reaching each goal, along with the sense of fulfillment and pride in having done something hard. 

The one dream I had as a little girl was to be a mom...to be married in the temple to a wonderful man and to be a great mom to wonderful children.  I had to set goals and steps along the way to make sure I stayed on track.  I had to keep myself worthy.  I had to learn how to take care of small children.  I had to learn how to cook and keep a home.  I had to have that desire to make the sacrifices that would be asked of me. 

I believe that my dream has come true, but not without my own brick walls.  And there  are still brick walls I will have to face.  My husband is wonderful and I did get married in the temple.  But we have our challenges.  And let's face it.  Being a mom is not always lollipops and rainbows.  We have our cloudy and stormy days there too.  But I must always hope for and work towards being the best mom I can be.  If I can keep my eye fixed on that, then each and every day, my dream can come true.  I can become the person I dreamed of.