Dreamers

It is really important to allow yourself to dream.

As a mother and a grown up I somehow lost focus on myself and decided to dream only for my children.  I look at the three of them and I see infinite potential.  I envision a world where they can conquer any and everything.

My five year old daughter refers to herself as a princess and through her eyes I see her as such.

My oldest son very loudly and squeakily plays a recorder at home.  It is an instrument that he got from his music class at school.  He relaxes and lets himself feel the music as he toots with all his heart.  The sound is not exactly melodious, but he believes that he is making beautiful music.  He asked me to post a video of him on YouTube because in his soul he knows that anyone would surely appreciate and be inspired by his sweet-sounding tunes.

Their little brother asked me today if he can fly.  He is a superhero, so of course he wants to know and explore every power that he has.  Some days he is Super Man  and sometimes he is Batman.  Right now he is focusing his energy on being the best Iron Man there is. 

They are dreamers.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."  If that is the case I am positively doomed unless I take a lesson from my children.

Somehow along the way I became a "realist" and started operating with fear instead of passion in my heart. Recent events in my life and my kids have caused me to rethink my position on dreaming.  I have come to learn that it is essential to have dreams not only for your children, but for yourself as well.  As adults we lose focus on how to believe with reckless abandon.  We get too busy planning, scheduling and worrying.  We surrender ourselves to adulthood and starve our dreams.

Children have a lot to teach us.  They believe that anything is possible and that their dreams with all their splendor are part of what makes life enjoyable.  They don't place limits on themselves and they expect that their lives will be beautiful, fantastical never-ending adventures.  

My eight year old son believes that he can be a famous football playing recorder star, my five year old daughter knows that she is the epitome of grace and royalty and my three year old son is Iron Man.  Because they believe it, it is so.

What do you believe?

Self Reflection is a Beast

It is very easy to cast judgement on others. We look at our neighbors' lawns and shake our heads at how tall their grass is. We pity those whose marriages fall into ruins and we feel sorry for those unfortunate ones who just can't seem to find love no matter how hard they try.

It really is an effortless act. Without a second thought we lose ourselves in the seeming misery of others. It is much simpler to do that than to take a look at oneself. Rare is the opportunity to face our own demons. We have become a race of good actors. We pretend that our lives are somehow better than others and that our problems don't run as deep.

But what happens when life doesn't fit into a neat little package that we'd all like to wrap with a pretty little bow? There are fortunate individuals who during their lives are confronted with terrible truths and painful ordeals that leave one no choice but to reflect on the past and consider how it affects the present. Those people are fortunate because very loudly life is telling them to shift their thoughts, change their behaviors and be real.

Journey through the darkness and you will get to the light. You just have to free yourself from that which is weighing you down.

According to William Shakespeare, "All the world's a stage, and
all the men and women merely players". That may be true, but
isn't time to be more aggressive with the condition of our lives.
We can stop just existing and going through the motions with
our pretend scripts and preconditioned roles. Life was meant to be lived, not just acted out.

Think about it.