You may Say I'm a Dreamer....

So, lately I've been finding myself day dreaming a lot, mostly about the ocean and warmer weather.  Which caused me to think about the importance of dreams in your life.  Dreams can motivate and encourage us. They can provide glimpses into our future.  They can spur us into action.  I am enjoying watching the Olympics-- which involves dreaming in action, the fulfillment of a lifetime of dreams.

I think it is important to have both big and small dreams.  The small dreams are great because they are usually easily achievable and give you a sense of accomplishment, a sense of forward movement.  However, I find that it's the big dreams that keep life adventurous! I love the quote, "Dream higher than the sky and deeper than the ocean."  To me, this quote reminds me to dream big.

Sometimes as you get older and more bogged down in the day to day, you forget to dream big.  And, when you are raising a family, you sometimes forget the importance of having big dreams for yourself.  You see, it's easy as a parent to get caught up in the dreams for your child.  And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but you do need to realize that at some point your child/ren grow up and  move out in pursuit of their dreams.  Which can leave you dreamless.

As I am facing the fact that my son will soon be out on his own fulfilling his dreams, I am becoming more aware of the importance of having dreams of my own.  I am deliberately starting to envision new dreams for myself.  Recently, my husband and I spent a whole evening together dreaming about retirement (for him, I'm already retired ;)  At least that's what I keep telling him.) and what that will look like for us.  Where we will live, what we will do, etc.  It was fun!  And ever since that conversation, I often glance over at him and catch the same day dreaming look that I have on my face reflected in his eyes.  And, I have started making a list of a few new things I am going to learn or experience, some of which I have already started working on.

Now I know that there are some out there who are going to say things like, tomorrow is never promised to you...yada....yada...yada.  Whatever.  You are not going to burst my dream bubble!  You see, I may never fulfill all of my dreams but that isn't what matters most.  What matters most is that I keep on dreaming.  By dreaming I am causing myself to look forward in anticipation, rather than looking backward with regret. Dreaming builds a sense of anticipation and excitement into my life.  It helps me to look for and seize amazing moments, adventure, and opportunities instead of passing them by.

My challenge to you and myself is this.  Keep dreaming!  Don't be afraid to dream BIG!  Dream adventurous, courageous, ambitious, fun dreams!  Dream with me. And then, hopefully, we can say   the famous words of John Lennon...."You may say I'm a dreamer.  But I'm not the only one."

So, in keeping with the line of dreaming deeper than the ocean, I'll leave you with a few photos from my recent snorkeling trips in St. Thomas and St. John.