If Only You Could Dream

 Can you really remember what it felt like to be a child, when your most cherished and important time was playtime; when worry and doubt was completely foreign to you? Do you remember how it felt when you were called into the house and had to stop playing to do something, anything? Loud groans are the typical response, an honest retort to the interruption of dream time. Ask any child what they dream of and they stumble over their words as a host of hope filled ideas spill forth from excitement. Children know how to dream; we were all born knowing how. It is a crucial component to humans and their successful existence. We're all dreamers.

Dreaming is vital to realizing the future we planned before we arrived. Believe that mediocrity was never a part of your plan. It is a temporary place we stop at when we've forgotten how to dream; mostly a hopeless place. What happened that caused us to forget our dreams and cease creating new ones? We've forgotten how and we had a little help along the way. We were guided by adults who forgot how or why it was important.

Adulthood frequently creates non-believers. They snicker and even scoff at the dreams of a child. In the reality they have created most things are impossible, certainly lofty dreams. They are quick to yank us back into their world where we are trapped by their limitations and lack of faith. This is not an intentional act; most do not even realize where they dwell in the land of dreamers. How in the world can we escape from this uncomfortable confinement?

It requires becoming a child, again. This means taking the time to walk out the door, stare at the clouds and be aware of what only you can see there, and recovering the mirth and joy at what you see. This is our most basic form of dreaming. It requires kicking worry to the curb and really believing things will be just fine, having faith that tomorrow will be fine because today is filled with wonder. Taking time out to hope for outcomes that yesterday you refused to believe was possible is essential to recovering our ability to dream, to finding the child that still lives within everyone. We need play time where only we are invited, where we can laugh out loud, dance in the rain, splash in a puddle and stare in wonder at a butterfly. You cannot simply dream again. You have to step back into the role.

When you are able to remember how to be childlike dreaming will return. It is a natural state. There's one more really important thing to know at that point. Never, ever share your dreams with anyone who cannot or will not support them. To do so is to open the door and step back into the confinement you have just escaped. You must be able to dream the dream and believe in it before you can realize it.

If only you would, you could dream, again. If only you believe.