Hope and Dreams

When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time." ~ Author Unknown

Excuses. The world is full of them. We all have them, for all parts of our lives.

I don't have the time. My life is too stressful. I'm not good enough.

Bull puckey.

Make the time. We all have stress. And you ARE good enough, if you think you are.

If you can dream it, really dream it, then you can find the strength to make it happen.

My husband's dreaming muscles are very small. They don't get a workout often. Last week, the Powerball was an estimated $240 million and I couldn't resist buying a ticket (yes, just one -- so my odds were 1 in 8 gazillion... is 20 in 8 gazillion really any better?).

I tried to dream with him. It took him a while to get warmed up but he decided on a big barn to house all his restored 1985 Toyota pickups and his other toys (the boats, the snowmobiles). And he dreamed about not working -- at least not for money. He talked about volunteering for somewhere like Habitat for Humanity full time. It was a start, a decent though modest beginning.

Me?

I'd like more than one home. I'm a nomad at heart, but I also like roots. So having two (or more! Hey... it's my dream) homes would be perfect.

I'd also like a private jet. Seriously, I just don't like to fly anymore. It's a pain, it's more stressful than it ever used to be, it's expensive. Ugh. So I don't really travel. But a private jet? Oh yeah. Leg room (heck, a bedroom to sleep in while you're waiting for takeoff), liquids, a clean bathroom big enough to turn around in (I had to change my DD in an airplane bathroom once -- OMG, it's funny in retrospect, but not so much then).

In all of my houses, I'd like a small theater. With movie popcorn.

I want my OWN house ... just a little cottage that I can decorate and live in any way I want. Sometimes it's hard to continually compromise with a husband. I love flowers and frills, he loves guns and mounted deer heads.

I want to be able to put my daughter into any class she wants: singing, acting, drawing, swimming, karate... whatever. And I want a limo driver to take her there.

Then... I want to sponsor homes for battered women or needy children. I want to be able to show up at the local food pantry with a years supply of food. I want to expand our library and add more reading programs for kids. I want to give the no-kill animal shelter food and blankets and toys for the critters. I'd love to build a kitty place where all the cats could run free instead of being cooped up in their kennels.

I can dream.

Unfortunately, we didn't win the Powerball. But that doesn't stop me from dreaming. If not the Powerball, then maybe I'll be the next Nora. It's close enough, and it would fulfill my other dreams.

What about you? What do you dream? Don't put limits on it -- DREAM BIG! If you can't dream it, you'll never get it.