I love the poem by Langston Hughes "A Dream Deferred." I won't reprint it here, but it is worth a look if you are not familiar with it. I think his images are poignant. Dreams have power in our lives, and by default, dreams deferred have power in our lives as well. Maybe those dreams that we forget about, or shunt into the corner out of sight, fester. Maybe those dreams become a figurative cancer that eats away at our soul, bit by bit. Some will think that I am being melodramatic. That is certainly not beneath me, as those who know me will attest, but I intend no melodrama with my statement here. Dreams that are shut away shrivel up. I am undecided if they ever truly die. I think instead those dreams become the regrets that we all carry around with us. I know some folks say they have no regrets, but I think those folks are fooling themselves. Everyone living wished they had done something different at some point in time. Sometimes the something different is a whim, but sometimes the something different is a dream that was never realized.
Not all dreams are realistic. I, for example, would never make it in professional sports of any kind. Unless couch-sitting becomes a sport, then I am simply out of luck. I can't hit a ball, catch a ball, throw a ball very far, or make a ball go through a hoop with any regularity. I am a good example of the anti-athlete. But I have had other dreams in my life, realistic ones, that I have hedged on, outmaneuvered, pretended weren't really dreams, or simply tried to ignore. What I have come to realize is that I can't outmaneuver my dreams because they are a part of me. Likewise, I can't ignore them because in those quiet moments when I am really, brutally honest with myself, those dreams unfulfilled tear at me in ways both mental and spiritual.
I challenge you all then to look at your dreams. Which dreams, realistic dreams that can be accomplished if you really want to accomplish them, are you ignoring? Don't use the excuse of money. Immigrants come to the USA everyday with nothing in their pockets and a dream, and those immigrants tend to succeed through sheer hard work. Time is truly the only non-renewable resource we all have. None of us know how much time we have. I have seen that too many times over the past few years with several unexpected deaths in my family and my friends' families. What dreams are you putting off until the time is right? I have to say, the time is right now. What are you waiting for? Chase your dreams. Now.