Dreams. What are dreams? I'm not talking about the kind of mental exercises your brain goes through in your sleep but about those wishes of ours that we hope will someday come true. When do dreams become goals? Are dreams these ideas we have that seem so unattainable that we are afraid to call them goals? At what point do dreams cross into attainable possibilities that we can work towards and say "I'll get there, someday."?
Everyone should have dreams, something they want to do, see, be that may seem fantastical and outrageous. Without dreams, we stagnate into living with whatever comes our way, never thinking into what we can make happen, what we can achieve. The great Mr. King had a dream, one he worked towards tirelessly, relentlessly, but never truly saw in his wrongly shortened lifetime. But his dream remains, one that is slowly becoming true, though I have doubts that anyone in life will be treated as equals, regardless of their color. Society has not worked that way for millenia and, in truth, when we all become one race, one culture, we become so close to God's dreams for us that we may be all called home. Remember, God separated us by language, race, and culture to punish us for our conceit (Genesis 11) and when we can all come together again, we will truly be free of this punishment. But Mr. King dreamed something he doubtlessly knew he would never see come to pass in fullness and chose to work for it anyway. Is that the definition of a dream? Something you think will never happen but you try anyway?
What is a goal? Aren't goals just dreams that seem easier to achieve? I have a goal to live in a house on lots of land, raise animals, care for sick/injured animals and find them homes, and take in foster kids. This is something I see me and my husband doing in 10 or 15 years. But is it also a dream? Yes, for me it is. I can't be certain I can make this happen. Life has so many variables that this lies more on the side of dream than goal. However, if I don't work now to make it happen later, it will never happen. Perhaps that is the difference. Goals are something we can see a path towards, however murky it may be. Dreams are shrouded in mystery. Perhaps a dream is the endpoint for which we can see no path.
It is paramount for all people to have both dreams and goals and work towards both. Sometimes you have to work towards the goals first and let the dreams follow. For years, my goal was to complete my education by obtaining a PhD. I made it. It is because of that goal that I can now dream about our future, about what we may make happen (husband and me and our forming family). The goal garnered me the education that led to my job that leads to enough money to pay the bills and set some aside for the future, to eventually buy that land, build the kennels, care for needy kids. If I did not dream now, and think about what those dreams need to become true, I would never make it there. The dreams would not become goals, ever.
Here's to wishing you all good dreams and may your dreams become goals.
