Five days a week I trek to work and teach with a passion for the subject matter and empathy and care for my students. I love teaching. Each moment when something unexpected happens,when a student does more than they have done before or exceeds their own expectations is a gift that brings me joy. And when I think of dreams and look at these students I can think back to the things I was dreaming of at their ages. Many of those things I dreamed of have come true. I dreamed of adopting children and I have done that. I dreamed of living somewhere other than where I had grown up and for most of my adult life I have done that. I dreamed of traveling the world and I have been blessed to visit so many places.
But then there are the dreams yet fulfilled. I dreamed of living in a foreign country and being a writer for a publication. Not yet, that has not yet happened. I dreamed of having a relationship like that of my Dad and Mom's. Not yet, that has not happened. I dreamed of speaking another language fluently. Not yet. But I am not discouraged as some may be by the number of dreams as yet unfulfilled because I still have time and I am still pursuing them in as much as one can do withing the confines of daily living. I am planning another trip this summer that will add to the places I have already traveled. I will someday take my language learning seriously and dedicate more time to it. And finally, I do believe that someday that meaningful, lasting relationship will come to be but I have to be patient until such a time as I meet him.
Dreams for small children are so different. They are temporary things, more wishes than dreams. We have just finished with Christmas, the time of year where children make their dreams known and parents race to try to fulfill those dreams. I think the season just proves we all have a need to dream. But could we do things differently when showing our children what dreams are and how to pursue them?
Last year I read an article about giving experiences instead of gifts for Christmas. I loved this idea and I tried it on my children. I did buy them a few things they asked for but the bulk of my money was spent on snowshoes so that we as a family could go snowshoeing, something we love to do in winter.
I fully expected to have the same type of giving this year but my boys headed me off at the pass. Early in October they began thinking and talking about their Christmas lists. When November came they carefully composed a list of things they wanted, what they were dreaming of. Their lists were not extensive by any means but I was hoping they would ask for an experience of some kind, such as a trip. I was discouraged to find all they wanted were things, stuff to clutter our world. I have a difficult time relating to those types of Christmas lists. Even as a child I could never think of anything I really WANTED for Christmas. I was focused on needs. I was always discouraged by my sister who knew just what to ask for; a bike, a water ski. My gifts always dwarfed hers in size under the tree. One year I actually managed to think of something big, a knee board and I am not sure what she received that year but then again maybe that was my birthday. She was good at those as well. I was not.
Maybe my dreams were and still are too big to put on a Christmas list. I want to see the world. I want to visit at least as many places as my Aunt Evy and Grandma Simons. I want to explore and write. And while I explore I want to learn and help people. Should I ask for that under the tree?
The not dreaming small makes it difficult to ask anyone to provide any portion of that dream for me, except of course God. But isn't that maybe the beauty of dreaming? We must pursue the dream and the journey is as beautiful as the dream itself. I can't imagine if my boys had just been given to me without the pursuit and struggle that preceded it. Would I even have appreciated them as the gift half as much? And I know I will relish each of my dreams as I receive them that much more because I struggled and waited to receive them. Delayed gratification is always more intense, the celebration exponentially larger, the achievement that much closer to our hearts. So I can speak my dreams. They are as follows: I dream of owning a farm where I can teach people about wholesome food, organic practices and a healthy lifestyle. I dream of doing this with someone. I dream that this could be my life's work and that I would then write about it. I dream that I could do this while learning a foreign language and living in a new country. And whether it takes me five or twenty years to complete these dreams, I do not doubt they will come true. I am not discouraged by the life I am leading until that time, in fact its just the opposite. I am encouraged by all I am doing now and all I have accomplished so far and I am determined to finish the rest.
I long for the adventure and spend my days teaching school. Not such a shabby life. I am a huge daydreamer which luckily keeps me happier than most people. I can dream big throughout the day and have a little bit of joy within things others might find tedious.
Who is not fueled by their dreams? I would guess those that are unhappy. One cannot live life without something to look forward to. It would be discouraging. So hears to all those daydreamers. I am right there with you in my own little world within my mind.
