When we were young our hope and dreams were as vast as the ocean. As we inevitably age, those same dreams seem to slowly shrivel to about the width of a tiny creek, aimlessly that meanders without direction trough neglected fields and abandoned farms. Why does this happen to so many of us and how can our dreams, once so powerful and awe-inspiring, quietly pass us by without even so much as a whimper? Well, as Peter, Paul and Mary once famously told us all, “The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind.” And that wind rushes past us blindly, on its hurried-up rush to nowhere.
I was reminded of how easily hope and dreams can sometimes fade, when I became part of a group that was recently formed to implement a major project in our church. Our pastor and his dedicated team gave an inspiring presentation, designed to motivate the crowd of almost 300 to immediate action. While his speech did inspire some, the majority were less than enthusiastic and a few intrepid souls even made the difficult and bold choice to no longer be a member of this ground-breaking group. The project continues on, however, mostly through the diligent efforts of a very dedicated and determined Pastor; but his core group of supporters has shrunken and it may take a massive infusion of energy and the sure and certain intervention of the Holy Spirit to make this dream a reality. But we must, and will, press on.
I wonder how a class of third graders would have reacted. Although my memory is not quite as good as it once was, I seem to recall that any and all new ideas were almost always met with cheers, laughter, enthusiasm and quite a lot of smiling, laughter and cheers. In that tiny classroom, we were frequently given assignments, designed to challenge our imaginations, foster teamwork, provide new learning opportunities and draw us into lands of adventure that few had ever attempted before. The yearly science fair was a much-anticipated event, as was the talent show, the spelling bee and any form of competition our harried teacher could conjure up. And we all participated with a zeal and desire that would have sent us to the moon if we could have channelled it properly. And, lo and behold, we did get to the moon, if only through the black and white televised event when “One giant leap for mankind.” was uttered by Neil Armstrong, as he gingerly took his first steps on that tiny white orb we could all see as we raced to our backyards in a fruitless search for a peek at him through our binoculars and telescopes. How magnificent the dream when you can see it actually realized! And then we became older……
We graduated third grade and entered fourth. Soon, we were in Junior High, as it was called back then in the 60’s. High school loomed, relationships formed and disappeared, a war continued on and some of our brightest and best left to fight in it. Many did not return. Some of us ventured into the business world when those high school diplomas were placed in our eager hands; others left for even more schooling in college. A few of us got married right out of high school and others left, dropped out or traveled the world to “find ourselves.” Some did, most did not and by the end of the 70’s a majority of us were married, had children of our own, jobs we either loved or hated and our friends, dreams,hopes and adventures had settled down into the mundane world of work, fitting in, finding a home and good school system for our own little dreamers and we became, in spite of what we often said back then, “A whole lot like our parents who had come before us.” The hope and dreams of our now distant third grade youth, while still somewhere within us, deep inside, crawling around inside and sometimes restlessly stirring, but mostly just lurking there, yearning to be awakened once again. It seems so long ago.
For most of us, those dreams simply faded, silently, without fanfare and completely and utterly unnoticed. Dreams of walking on the moon with Neil, of that acting career, hitting the deciding home run in the world series or writing the great American novel, were pushed to the side as we drove our children to school, sporting events, and the mall.And then, on one special and increasingly dreaded day, driving our sons and daughters to college and the life we had imagined for our own progeny. Time and life had dimmed our dreams as surely as a river seeks the ocean, but for a fraction of those early dreamers, our dreams did, in fact, become our reality.
Some of us, the lucky ones, for sure, did make those dreams and hopes come true, mostly because we never, ever, lost sight of that little child within us. That inner child can still play, laugh, lose ourselves in our work and plan as if we will truly live forever. That inner voice constantly recalls those marvelous days in that tiny classroom, when the most important event in our lives was simply tomorrow and the future, while still so far away, was as close as our next adventure; one we would surely be living by nightfall and before we had to be home as the streetlights came on. We were knights, superheros and awe-inspiring leaders. We leaped tall building in a single bound and traveled the universe with a captain who told us we could all “Boldly go where no one has gone before.” We slept the sleep of the truly exhausted, because we constantly lived each moment as if it were our last and caution was something our mothers told us to always remember to apply….although we almost never did.
The true dreamers and achievers among us still live and act on our dreams because we never forget that our dreams are a part of us, nurtured and baked, cooked and grown, every day of our lives. While other people watch as their dreams slowly fade or are often suppressed, we fiddle and fix, try and fail, try again, refine and adjust and construct our dreams every day with the ingredients we have before us; our own limitless minds, a little bit of luck and a dash of determination to succeed, no matter what obstacles may lurk in the darkness. Hope and dreams never die. Our will to make them happen is what will surely fail…..if we let it. And that must never happen!
So, never let your dreams fail. Keep the spirit of your younger self alive and kicking. Be adventurous, try something new, plan a trip to a place you have never been before. Write that book, join that small theater group, ride a horse, jump out of a plane, sail the seas in a boat of your own making. Fish the quiet and cool streams of the Rockies. Hike that trail in China. Visit that long-lost aunt on the coast and hold your new grandchild in your arms. Nothing is impossible, unless you let it be so. Hope and dreams are what make us human and those same hope and dreams can transport our aging bodies back into that third grade classroom where dreams did come true and they will most certainly happen to you…..because you believe they can. Live the adventure. Live your dreams.