Live the Life...

View From Franklin Mountains into Juarez

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

The playground of the Mary P. Hinsdale Elementary School faced the "Gilbert High School" which was perched on a hill above.  On indian summer days and in the spring, while others played, I dreamed about how some day I would also go to that school and graduate victoriously on my way to college.  That was my dream.

I didn''''t '''''think about how I would achieve my college goal.  I didn't wonder about the financial impediments or even the academic challenges.  I simply visualized going and nothing was going to stop me.

Many years have gone by since those days of day dreaming about that hill.  In hindsight the obstacles were pretty formidable but the reality was that without that dream, I never would have achieved my goal.  Without vision followed by action, we can never achieve what we want.

As adults many live lives of voyeurs.  We entertain ourselves wishing and fantasizing of what might be.  Few attempt to try to turn ideas into realities.  We hold ourselves back.  How differently would things be if you just resolved to pursue your passions?  What would happen to you if you just abandoned your shackles and lived the life you have always imagined for yourself?

I don't claim to have all the answers but I am not afraid of asking the questions.  There's lots of living that I intend to do and the only thing holding me back has always been me.  Again I find myself looking at the hill; I can feel the momentum pushing me forward again.  "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams."