The stupendous importance of dreams and goals

I'm sitting here dreaming of winter and the inevitable snow, wondering if it will come, and if I'm going to make it through these next two and a half weeks until Christmas--and knowing that it will and I will. Part of making it through challenging times is having dreams and plans for the future. I like to have plans for the near future and distant future. Both of these provide beacons up ahead for us to strive to reach.
My near-future dream, and I'll call them goals from here on out, because they are definitely concrete and achievable and not pie in the sky wishes--include some fine Utah skiing after the first of the year, some snow shoeing, some travel and sight-seeing, even if only locally. I have a strong desire to go out into the wintry world of whiteness once we get some snow, and to see some horses standing out in the snow. Maybe near an old ranch house with a wood post fence. I like thinking of things like that, horses outside, a nice warm fire glowing in a nearby house, the smell of good, home-cooked food, kind and warm people within. I'm kind of homey and maybe a bit old-fashioned and that's what appeals to me.
Further on, my goals take me into the spring and summer months and once again enjoying the high country. I'm planning a backpacking trip in July and hoping a few of my good friends can accompany me. It's so much more enjoyable to go with a few good friends. My summer of mountain exploration will lead naturally back into the fall, and I hope to get out deer hunting again this year. It has been a few years now since I last went.
Looking at my future for years out, I also like to have plans and things to look forward to. One of those is my eventual retirement from the U.S. Postal Service. That's about ten years away. Not that I plan on sitting around once that time comes, but it will be nice to move on and follow my interests and that will be about the time I can do it. Someone once said that the key to happiness is to have many passions in life. The reason being is because if something happens and you can't pursue one of them, you have others that can keep you occupied. I am a man of many passions. If I go blind and cannot see the beautiful scenery of my mountains, I can devote more time to music listening and playing. There is always something more to do. That keeps me going.
I hope to enjoy a long life and much happiness throughout and goals with plans to get there are part of the process. Those goals, in the distant future, help us live through challenging present circumstances. So that's what I would encourage you, my readers to do--have a plan, make goals, and strive to reach them. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." I do.

The value of hope

I have found that having hope is the driving force behind life. And that without hope, the road turns to despair. This become particularly important in helping those with long-term illnesses keep up the will to live.

Living, for all of us, has its challenges, but for one who faces each day with the prospect of pain, or the haze of drug-induced pain killers, and no end in sight except eventual death, well, that is far more challenging than everyday life for most of us. This is where something to hope for can help the person with a chronic illness cope.

If they have big plans for the future, something to look forward to, they can place their trust in that hope. If we who care of them take away that hope through our choices or actions, we cause them to drift down the road to despair. We need to be very careful when we make life decisions to include those who need hope the most, just to survive, to continue to have the will to keep fighting. If we don't think about the effect our decisions make have on our loved ones with chronic illnesses, then we can end up hurting them in ways we really didn't know we would.

The best solution then is to help them put their trust in God, but also to not take away their dreams. It's often a difficult and impossible conundrum, when we feel we must act a certain way, but that way seems to put their hope in jeopardy.

Life is a challenge, but people matter. Putting others above ones self is the most important. I'm a firm believer that once we do that, all things will eventually work out, even though it may take much longer than we thought. We can still treasure our own hopes and dreams in our hearts as we care for our loved ones.

Dreams

I woke up about 3 am this morning and tried to go back to sleep because I had gone to be late. I was up for about an hour and finally fell asleep. While asleep I dreamed that I was out walking by a pond and saw some small frogs swimming in the water. I hadn't seen a live frog in years in nature, and I wanted to catch one. I reached in the water and caught one on my first attempt. I scooped it up and put it in a container, then decided to go for one more. I really wanted my grandkids to see the frogs. There were other strange portions of the dream. I really don't know if dreams have meanings, but it seems awfully interesting that I was trying to catch a frog and that I hadn't seen one in years in my wakeful state.
Maybe it's just telling me that there's a goal out there that needs to be achieved, or maybe someone that I haven't seen in a long time that I'd like to see. Or maybe I just wish I could be a kid again and catch frogs.