With the holiday season approaching, as the song goes, "It’s the most wonderful time of the year." Despite the ever present hustle and bustle, there is an air of gratitude and giving. It’s a time of reflection for the things we have, the things we should’ve done and maybe the things we didn’t do. There’s an underlying hope that things will change with the coming year and we tell ourselves if it does, "by God, I promise, I will do things differently."

It is always in the solitude of those silent reflective moments that we realize life is life, and no matter how honorable our intentions may be; those promises to do things differently will lie fallow as they have over previous years, unless we take action. We are a great people for rationalizing our lives and ultimately suppressing our inabilities to change. Sometimes we take comfort in the simple fact that we tried to change, but it just didn’t work. The question we need to ask is how hard did we try and was the goal attainable? Thinking about it just isn’t enough.

I asked my four-year-old son if he could only have one present for Christmas, what would it be. He didn’t respond immediately and I could see he was deep in thought. Finally, he said that he would like to have a hundred million trillion dollars. I was quite taken aback, not only with his answer, but with the simple fact that he could contemplate that large of a number.

When I asked what he would do with that large sum of money, he thought and thought, and finally said "I would buy Toys R Us, that way I would have all the toys for Christmas."

I marveled at his ability to dream big dreams as only four year olds can do, but when asked why he thought he deserved all the toys, he responded like all four year olds, shrugging his shoulders and saying "I don’t know I just want the toys".

We all walk that parental fine line, do we tell our kids, and thus ourselves, that a hundred million trillion dollars is beyond our capability thus crushing one’s ability to dream; or do we support the dream hoping that reality tempers it.

How many of us continue to chase a dream when we know the odds are insurmountable. How much time is wasted? How many lives affected? Where is the blame laid when those dreams aren’t attained?

Don’t give up your dreams, but with this Holiday Season upon us, be thankful for what we have, faith, family, and friends.

Next year let NaVOBA help you refine your dreams so that they become reachable and attainable. 

Comments