I wonder how many of us have had dreams of grandeur as a child. I’m sure I’m not the only one who dreamed of being a rock star. I’m sure I’m not the only who totally abandoned pursuing anything close to their dream. Have you spent your life wondering “what if” or “why didn’t I?” My passion for music brought me to playing trumpet, French horn, a little piano, and eventually the guitar. But, it never brought me to places like Broadway or Shea Stadium. 

But alas, as we get older, those abandoned dreams wane to mere hobbies, and that’s ok, because as long as we embrace them on whatever level we can, the passion thrives. When we feel passion, we feel alive. But, at some point, I started to really think about what my greatest strengths are, and how closely they tie into my life-long passions and dreams. The one thing I can do well is write. And you have no idea how hard it was for me to have just written that! When I was growing up, I struggled to verbalize my feelings. I always felt tongue-tied, misunderstood, and often, not heard at all. To this day, when I talk, I feel like it’s incoherent. At times when I’ve tried to express myself, it most often felt like I spoke some alien language that made no sense at all. Because of that, I find myself repeating what I say, annoying the you-know-what out of everyone who clearly got it the first time.  

Because of my perceived inability to express myself verbally, I turned to writing. At around ten years old, I started dabbling with poetry after learning about haikus. Then, in my teens, I wrote poetry almost daily. I started teaching myself guitar, and started writing songs – at last! But, looking back, my writing is what people seemed to encourage most. But, oh that fear of failure and lack of confidence! How it stymies many a dream, and stunts the growth of many an aspiration!

For years, I have wanted to publish a book. The story is in my head, several chapters are written. But, lack of belief in myself has kept me from pursuing that dream. But, one is never too old to write (unlike the fact that one can DEFINITELY be too old to be a rock star). When I realized that, a light went off. I still have a dream that is not too late to pursue! And to be honest, the dream of writing is far more realistic than the rock star dream ever was. I am less than 48 hours away from turning 50. I’m pretty sure it’s too late to grace the stage, but I can write about how I never had the courage to try. To do something you’ve always dreamed of doing, you simply need to start. Then, just keep taking the next step. Whatever your dreams are, figure out how they can tie into your present life, and take that first step toward integrating the two. Don’t come to the sunset of your life and wonder why you never tried. So goes the blog. It is the first step.

So, what were your dreams? Have you reconciled them? Have you abandoned them all? Have you molded them into something that has become a rewarding career, a new passion? Have you discovered passions within you that you never knew were there? And most importantly, are you nurturing who you really are?

My daughter’s dream at 7 was to be a babysitter. At 11, she wanted to be on Broadway. At 12, she wanted to be a wedding planner. At 13, she wants to be a rock star!

What were your dreams? And what are your dreams now? And is there any connection between the two? I would love to hear about them. To the left is a one question poll. It will be fun to see how many of us are living our dreams!