Dream on!

A group of discipline [out of shape] women decided to [go temporarily insane for a while] start walking at the high school track at 5:30 a.m. during the weekday mornings. 5:30 a.m. was still dark, and that's prime sleeping time for me, but I determined to stick it out for several weeks.

One morning the alarm went off at 5:15 a.m. right in the middle of a wonderful dream with me dancing with Patrick Swayze. I rolled over and tried so hard to go back to sleep, but the dream was gone. I dragged myself out of bed, dressed, and trudged to the track where I whined to the ladies that I had sacrificed greatly to go walking with them that morning. I told them that I had been dancing in Patrick Swayze's arms just minutes before. My husband need not have worried, though. You could've driven a freight truck between Patrick and me because for some reason we were dancing the polka!

Aren't dreams strange? How in the world do our subconscious minds dream up things we would never imagine in our conscious state of mind? And how does our minds surprise or shock us in a dream, when it's our own minds thinking it up in the first place? Have you ever dreamed that you were asleep and dreaming and woke up and thought you were awake, but you were actually still asleep? I have, and it's really confusing.

This one looks like I'd just awaken from a nightmare at camp

A recurring theme in my dreams when I was young was that if water was present in any form or fashion, the dream turned into a nightmare. If we drove our car over a bridge, the bridge would collapse into the river or bay every time. If there were rain clouds, a tornado would come. In one dream a group of us kids were running around barefooted in a backyard. I ran by a mason jar full of water sitting in the lush carpet grass, and I thought it would feel so good to kick it over and step in the cool water. So I tipped it over with my toes and stepped onto the wet grass.

Doesn't that sound nice? Doesn't that sound safe enough? But the next thing I knew, I went falling through the ground like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. I felt the terrifying sensation of falling, and when I opened my eyes in my dream, water was falling every direction like Niagara Falls along with me. That just wasn't fair! How could a simple jar of water turn into a nightmare? I would never have thought that up while I was awake, and yet it was my own mind that created that dream.

Some dreams we do have control over, though. Those are the dreams we have while we are awake. Everyone should have a dream to pursue in this short lifetime. Sometimes we flounder around for years not knowing what we want to do with our lives, or we take things as they come and chalk it up to fate or the hand we've been dealt. Or we sit around waiting for the lottery to hit, believing only then that all of our dreams will come true.

My mother and grandmother quilted 30 quilts during the four years Granny lived with my parents

Too many of us don't realize the power we have within ourselves, which for me is Christ, to make our dreams come true. Often times it takes hard work to attain and keep our dreams. Many of those who are living their dreams didn't necessarily have the greatest skills or talents, but they had a great will to persevere and stick with their dreams. Too many quit when times get difficult. Or we think the dream is impossible to attain when we look at the big picture. But like chores, we need to break up our dreams into manageable, achievable goals. And write it down! I can't tell you how many times dreams were accomplished after putting pen to paper.

With my grandchildren reading my daughter's and my first picture book

What will it take to achieve your dream? More education or training? Then get it. Do you need to change some habits in order to achieve your dream? Then do it. Sometimes the most rewarding times of our lives is the actual pursuit of our dreams.

What is your dream? Has it been tucked away too long in the recesses of your mind? Get it out, dust it off, and go for it. We all dream when we're asleep, but the greater dreams are the ones we consciously make happen when we're awake.