Dreams – Illusive or Attainable?

"If life is a book we write, it should be a book of dreams. And even if they don't all come true, at least the story will still be amazing." ---Eytan Rockaway

During the past several months, I have questioned whether dreams can actually be attained. Life has a way of knocking us on our butts and making us look around and question everything, including our resolve. We find ourselves treading water and just fighting for the next moment, another day, even praying for another week. Wondering will this ever end, will there come a day when all this that has weighed us down; be lifted from our souls?

Two weeks ago, I came upon a sight that made me take pause. Briefly, I was frozen at the majestic spectacle before my eyes. It was five o’clock in the morning and the moon was bright. The sun, while not yet peeking over the mountains to the east, had cast enough light that things could be seen in the darkness. I was at the controls of a train and as I looked to the North while I was holding at a red signal, I witnessed the awesome evidence of dreams. This rail line passes right through the center of town. It passes right through the middle of high-rise buildings on both sides for three city blocks.

The dark buildings, not yet bustling with business or people stood there in the darkness. There was enough light from the moon and soon to raise sun, to show the grandness of these structures. There were a few lights on in the buildings, but many lights were shining on the buildings to show their splendor to the world. It was an amazing sight of new and old architecture coming together. Each structure has an amazing story of how it became what it now is. However, that is just a hint of what these structures stand for and have witnessed.

It began with an empty field and a dream to build a grand structure. Someone somewhere would not let those that would destroy their visions and dreams win the day. They fought through every challenge to build this mighty structure. That is just the beginning of dreams won and lost in such a mighty structure. There were businesses started in space leased. Businesses that failed in another space leased. Many relationships took blossom and flourished when the many people of this structure came together. Many of those relationships may have destroyed other relationships that were already formed. Many people celebrated from a job earned. Many have walked out disheartened from a job lost.

"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world." ---Oscar Wilde

Through it all, the mighty structures that stand so grand call out to us all. Dreams and the realization of those dreams are not for the faint of heart. It takes something special to realize our dreams. It takes someone special to tread water and find a path from where we are to where we desire to be. There is a local man that turned his drug addiction into an experience to teach and educate others. Meanwhile his extraordinary wife stood by him and they now pursue dreams together. Another man loses his job when his large employer closed down. Then he starts a small business and grows it into a wonderful business employing many.

They stand like kings and invite us all to enter and dream. They show their grand spectacle to all who desire to gaze upon them. They call out to us that the world would be flat and dimensionless if not for the dreams of humans. Like the Lords Mountains, dreamers saw a flat piece of land with weeds and built upon it a massive structure that leaves us breathless. Dreams are not for the faint of heart, but attainable they are for the special person that can overcome.

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world." ---Harriet Tubman

"The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer." ---Nolan Bushnell

"Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way." ---Les Brown