It wasn’t up there with Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream…” but fortunately it wasn’t down there with a Steven King type of dream either. 🙂
Over the years, I’ve always been a very active dreamer. I attribute this to hearing the story of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod about 50 bazillion times as a little boy. Loved that book, pretty sure it was the only thing that got me to nap. 🙂
I also strongly believe that some of the best movies ever made were based on my dreams. I just need to figure out how the Hollywood folks got in my head to watch them in the first place!
I read somewhere (again, on the internet, so it has to be true) that 60% of your dreams are forgotten in the first five minutes, and like 90% are forgotten within a half hour. Sounds about right to me. I can’t even count the number of blockbuster scripts I’ve forgotten over the years. I’m sure I’m missing out on some royalties somewhere.
Anyway, over the past several months almost every one of my dreams has had the exact same theme. I’m doing something active – working on the house, walking the beach, playing softball, hiking in the forest, jogging (ok, no jogging dreams – those would be nightmares). 🙂 I’ve had dozens and dozens of these dreams, all based on me doing fun, simple activities. And when I wake up, I’m super excited about my dream and what it means for my day ahead.
I am totally stoked with the thought that I’m ready, willing, and able to do all these exciting activities.
Then the reality sets in. It was just a dream. An awesome, beautiful, fantastic dream. But just a dream nonetheless. I am not back to my former self, all good again. I’m not somehow miraculously cured of this incurable disease. I am not going to be able to do in real life those things that I just did in my dreams. Here, in the real world, my physical being is worse off today than it was yesterday.
Wow, reality bites. And it’s devastating.
It’s the textbook definition of a rude awakening if there ever was one. And it happens… nearly every damn day.
But hear me out…
You know what… at least I woke up – so I’ve got that going for me. Each day, as I awaken to the realities of my life, I need to regroup. I need to count my blessings. I am alive. I have a wonderful, loving, beautiful (I could go on…) 🙂 wife. I have three incredible kids – who are no longer kids, but adults who are kicking ass and creating their own path in this world. I am surrounded by all kinds of family that (for some inexplicable reason) still loves me. And I am blessed with friends who support me along my path. Despite all that ails me, I really am blessed.
Bottom line… I’d rather dream of that which I’ve done before but can no longer do, than to have only dreamed of doing but have never done.
Read that again, I’ll wait. 🙂
But still, the dreams…
Crazy enough, none of these dreams can compare to the dream I had on Sunday night, May 2, 2021. I recounted this dream and the subsequent reality in a short video that I sent to my extended family a while back. I’ve decided to share it here (below), because, well, it makes you think about what your dreams are telling you.
Enjoy your dreams. Count your blessings. Celebrate all your victories.
Life is short, make it matter.
