[flickr id=”7809492264″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]We all have dreams.

Some dreams are big – bigger than what our logical minds tell us we can accomplish.

Some dreams are more practical – but still mean something to us.

Growing up I had many dreams.  I wanted to be a dance teacher. I wanted to perform on stage in musicals. I wanted to be a vet. I wanted to be a mom.

I was blessed to accomplish some dreams early.  At 10 my dance studio let me become an ‘assistant’. Me and my co-advanced-class dancers would help the teachers with the young ones. By 11 we were teaching the classes ourselves for the most part. By 13 we were allowed to choreograph.

When I was in my 20’s I was able to take some courses and training and became a vet assistant. For about six months I worked in a vets office and still think of that time with fond memories.

I became a mom at 21, and again at 29 & 30.

Right after I got married I performed in a series of musicals over the course of the year. On stage. Singing and dancing under the lights.

Then I got wrapped up in real life.  I had a husband, kids, bills, work and a home.  Dreams went by the wayside as our girls were born and their development took up every spare second of breath and thought in my head.  In the moments of quiet when everyone went to bed and I could unleash the stresses, I chose to do them with words.

Writing.

It had never been a dream, but as worlds formed under my fingertips, stories unfolded on the page, and characters breathed life into my soul a new dream formed.

Wrapped up in the realities of life I’d forgotten about me.  About how important even the smallest dreams could be.

They give you life, hope, something to look forward to and achieve.

Dreams are life.

Since then I have created a 45X45 list and begun to tackle things on it.  Some are small, others seem impossible.

Still, every time I cross something off of that list I feel a sense of elation, I smile for days.  I have accomplished something.

It’s not just good for me. It’s not selfish.

My children need to see it.  See me achieving goals and dreams.  The little ones, and the big ones.

Within 6 months I’ll have proof of one of my biggest dreams on my Nook (and Kindle).  Within a year I’ll have physical proof sitting on my bookshelf. Published.

It wasn’t a dream I had growing up.  It’s new. Formed just 7 years ago.  When I thought it was unattainable, outlandish and crazy.

I’ll never stop having dreams.  Achieving this one I’ve formed new ones.

New ones will follow behind.

Never let go of dreams.  Always have two – one practical & achievable, and another completely outlandish.

Never give up hope.

Let your children see the hope, and the accomplishment. It’s a prize that lasts for a very long time – and it helps them set their sights on the biggest dreams.