What's Your Dream?

I recently listened to a management audio book called, "The Dream Manager," by Matthew Kelly. It really got me to thinking and looking at my life. It is so easy to get caught up in the necessary everyday duties of life that we forget our dreams -- and maybe even forget we ever had dreams. When that happens we find ourselves living "quiet lives of desperation." What a description! The book is geared towards management and learning how to help employees recognized and fulfill their dreams -- the payoff is basically that they become more engaged in their careers in the process and there are lots of benefits to that.

I don't manage people anymore in my career, but I do have adult children, a husband, friends, am a leader at church and mentor young adults who find themselves in life situations where they can definitely use some dreams! One of the gifts I've been given is that of being an encourager. (When my son was 14 he told me I was like Barnabas - what a compliment!) What a great tool this book is! Not only a great tool for helping others - but a great tool for helping myself ('cuz if the well is empty, you can't give anybody water)!

One of the suggestions of the book is that you sit down and make a list of 100 of your dreams -- all in one sitting. I think the number 100 is key because it was really hard to even get started. I love making lists (sometimes that is a curse) but this was hard. I felt like #1 had to be the most important and the first one to accomplish. Wrong! By the time I got to about 85 some serious stuff started kicking in. It was a little like journaling -- it usually takes a bit of writing to get to the deep stuff! #100 may have been one of the most insightful for me -- "get out of ruts -- and stay out."

I am listening to the book again - in the car with my husband as we drive to work every day. He saw me typing my list into the computer and asked what it was. I told him he couldn't read my list until he made his own. I didn't want my dreams to influence his dreams. Not at this stage anyway - hopefully we will find that we have some of the same dreams. We are at a place where we need to dream again. Our children are raised and out of the home and we're pretty settled. We will be married 25 years in December. I'm excited to see where this leads!

It is kind of amazing to see people's first reaction to making a list of 100 dreams. I assigned this as homework to my class on Tuesday night too. They just looked at me with fear in their eyes at first. They are in some tough situations and the ideas of making a list of dreams is almost incomprehensible to them. I am exited for class next week.

I've started journaling about some of the dreams, determining if they are short-, mid-, or long-term, and researching to see what it will take to reach them. I've only on #3, but it is a start! Actually, I started in order down the list but I don't think I will continue going in order. One of the things I have realized is that I will have to work hard not to make this just another "to do" list. I often get to the point where my whole life feels like a huge "to do" list, just check it off and go to the next thing. That's not a very good way to live -- it's not living at all, it is just existing. I know that, but just knowing it doesn't always produce change!

I'd be interested to hear from you about this topic of dreams -- and I challenge you to make a list of 100 dreams of your own.