I've Got a Dream...

Did you see the movie Tangled? If not, please go watch this video of its song "I've Got a Dream" and come back.

And now you're back. Cute, eh?

Everyone's got a dream, sometimes even several dreams at once. We might even have contradictory dreams. For example, my in-laws dreamed of living in the desert, and they dreamed of a dust-free and tumbleweed-free life. They got the beautiful Colorado desert, dust, and tumbleweeds. I dreamed of living in a perfectly clean house, and I dreamed of having a husband, children, and a furry dog. I got wonderful husband, children, a furry dog, and more mess than I know what to do with.

Alas, not all our dreams come true.

Our dreams tend to change over time, and once we fulfill a dream or determine that a dream isn't do-able or our dream gets crushed by life in some tragic way, we need to replace it with another dream.

Sometimes, our dreams are, as the song says, grotesquely optimistic, and at other times, our dreams are incredibly low-achieving. Right now, I dream to be free of whatever virus has taken over my upper respiratory system. All I have to do is let my immune system do its thing and try to be patient, and that dream will come true.

Whenever you share your dreams with others, you're bound to get a response. Frequently, it's not a response you want. For instance, people avoid me because they don't want to get this crud themselves. I don't want to be Typhoid Mary, but here I am, world. Walk away. Walk away quickly!

People have also denied there's any reason for my dream because, according to them, I'm not sick at all. Jack asked me to cut up some watermelon for him a few days ago, and when I said I but didn't feel like wielding a knife, he told me, "You feel fine, Mom. You can do it!"

My dream has also provoked a lot of advice...chamomile tea bags for my eyes, vitamin C for my cold, honey for my sore throat, wine for my whine, and so forth. I like this advice. Especially the wine and the chamomile tea bags.

So yesterday, I sat in my car waiting to pick Jack up at school, listening to NPR between coughing spells. Someone mentioned advice for graduates, and the guest said something very unpoetic: graduates should find something they like doing and work really hard at it.

Find something you like doing and work really hard at it.

I like that.

At certain points in my life, I've had a great deal of focus. When I was in school, for instance, I dreamed of good grades and advanced degrees. I liked school, worked hard at it, and did really well. It was all very satisfying.

At other times in my life, like right now, I've sort of lost my focus. In fact, there are about twenty different dreams I want to work on all at once, and it's sort of overwhelming. I need to follow George's example and get some focus.

Among his many interests, George likes triathlon, and this year he's tackling his seventh Ironman race. Lucky number seven! In the build-up to that race, he's doing shorter ones: sprint and Olympic distance. He'll work hard to put in the miles swimming, biking, and running so on race day he can fulfill his dream: to finish the 2013 IM Moo race and come home with a medal and a t-shirt.

I like writing, and I actually write a lot of things: this blog, two other blogs, notes to my kids' teachers, emails, and such. I enjoy all this writing very much, but it feels like I'm doing a bunch of sprint and Olympic distance writing. Like George and his pursuit of Ironman, I'm feeling the need to kick up the writing dream a notch.

This year I'm tackling my first book. For those of you who read my stamping blog, this is good news as many of you have harassed me for years to do just this. My house might will get messier, but by golly, I've got a dream!

What's your dream? What would you like to accomplish in 2013? Don't worry if your dream is small(if you just had a baby, perhaps it might be the dream to shower daily!) or grotesquely optimistic (to create peace in the Middle East). Please share!!!