When I was younger, I felt like I had a million different dreams. I wanted to be a major league baseball player. I was going to play for the Cubs and hit a game winning home run. I wanted a mansion with all of these crazy toys and game rooms. I wanted to travel around and see what the world had to offer. I had a dream of opening a teen center where they could come and play and have fun with other kids their age. A place that could get them off the streets and doing stupid stuff, and into a fun, safe environment.
As I have gotten older, my dreams have become much simpler, but still not always easy to attain. I look back to some dreams that I had about sports, and now I want my son to try and achieve. However, I don’t want to be that dad who tries to make his children fulfill the dreams that he once had but failed to fulfill. I dream now of being happy and living the best life that I can. I dream of being successful and making a difference. I dream of being healthy living long enough to watch my kids grow up and have kids of their own. I dream of going on some badass vacations and seeing some amazing sights…I guess that one has never gone away. I dream of improving my golf game and trying out some great courses. Most of all, I dream of being a great husband and a great father.
As I reflect on my life now, I have to say that most of my dreams have actually come true. True, maybe not the dreams that I had when I was younger, but the dreams that make sense now. I have a great family, with a great wife and two wonderful children. I have a great relationship with my parents and two sisters. We hang out all the time and I love that. I have in-laws that I never mind seeing, and actually look forward to seeing most of the time. I have a job that I love (most of the time), and one that I can hopefully make a difference in. I have a great group of friends that I love getting together with. I have a lake house that we love going to and create so many memories at. I have gone on some of those badass vacations already. I have a job that I always wanted to have, but to make it even better, I have colleagues that make it very easy to go into work everyday.
In 1968, Martin Luther King wrote a speech called “Unfulfilled Dreams” in which he talked about how we all have dreams that may never pan out. Instead, he said we should look to help others fulfill their dreams. I thought that this made a lot of sense. I think of all the young minds I am around all day and how they still have so much of their lives left. They have so many dreams that they probably haven’t even thought of yet. I have my own kids who are only 3 and 1, who I want to always go for their dreams. I may not have gotten to fulfill all of my big dreams from when I was younger, but I can try and guide these young minds to fulfilling theirs. That may be one of my new dreams.
A Second Inside My Brain 
Poignant reflection. I like the end throw over to MLK Jr’s I Have a Dream speech; really puts your role as now guiding force in school and home, into a lot more perspective. It’s funny how some of our dreams mature and some die out. I’ve experienced some of the same, as I’m sure many of us have at a certain age. I do like that your slice challenged me to reflect on that tonight. Thanks for writing it.
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I am glad that most of your dreams have actually come true. Last week I taught a short unit on Buddhism and the Dalai Lama to my fifth grade history students. Through this unit, I learned that Buddhism teaches that nothing is permanent and that people are constantly changing and growing. I thought about this while reading about the evolution of your dreams as you grew older.
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I loved reading the changing dreams, some fulfilled and others unfulfilled. It’s interesting hearing your reflection about what’s important and what does not seem as important…and the idea that perhaps it’s more pressing to help other fulfill their dreams. What great food for thought!
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Mark, I love this and I’m not sure how I didn’t know about MLK Jr’s speech. I will promptly Google it after this. I love how grateful you are for all those fulfilled dreams and how your focus is on helping your kids and your students’ dreams come true. You should share this post with your students, I bet they’d love to hear it!
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