“To dream by night is to escape your life. To dream by day is to make it happen.”
Stephen Richards
Twice this week I had dreams that were so realistic I wondered if I was really dreaming. And then when I woke up and my dreams weren’t true I was a little disappointed. I hate saying that. I really do wish that my life was as good as my dreams, or even better.
The first night I dreamt I had won the lottery. A friend of mine dreamt that I had won the lottery a couple of weeks ago. He told me to go buy a lottery ticket. I did. I didn’t win. I meant to buy a lottery ticket the other day when I woke up. But I forgot.
I dreamt that I had won $400 million. And it was all in cash. They had to deliver it on a pallet. I had money everywhere. I had so much money I couldn’t keep up with it. It seemed that the main thing I was worried about was for all of that money to stay stacked neat. I had money in my wallet and I had to make sure that stayed nice and neat too. It was sort of a little obsessive.
I don’t know what I dreamt the next night but I woke up feeling the same as I did after I dreamt that I won the lottery. I couldn’t believe that I was back to reality. But reality it is.
I used to play the lottery all the time. I knew that I was going to win. I mean, I had been playing for years and hadn’t won over $7. I was due. I knew it.
Then one day it hit me, why was I putting all of my expectations of extreme wealth into the hands of something so random? Wasn’t everyone else expecting to become so wealthy only through chance. No, I needed more control than that. So I sat down and thought about it. What could I do that would bring me extreme wealth? What could I do that would bring me Bill Gates wealth? There had to be something.
First, I accepted the fact that I didn’t need to have Bill Gates-type wealth. I didn’t need that kind of money. I didn’t need any more money than what I could spend. I mean, even though I would like to help my children through life financially I don’t want to leave them a huge trust fund. I would just like to help them buy a home or a new car or pay off their student loans. Oh, that would be so nice. So, I didn’t need billions. I really didn’t need millions. One million would be nice. I could work with that. Shoot half a million would go a long way in making my life comfortable. But I’ll take the mil so that I can build my extreme log cabin. I mean, I don’t have to have it but it would be nice.
Then, I looked at what I could do to bring me that kind of money. It had to be something that I was good at and that I really enjoyed doing. It needed to be life-affirming. Yes, it had to be life-affirming. Photography. Oh, I love to take pictures. But I didn’t envision becoming a millionaire by taking pictures. Marketing. Yes, I love that. And if I work it right I could make good money and become financially successful there. I could. But that’s not in my temperament. I would have to compromise some of my values to become a ruthless entrepreneur. Is it only the ruthless entrepreneurs who make it in the world of small business? It seems to be the norm. But I do know some nice entrepreneurs who are successful. I could probably do it but would that be life-affirming enough. Probably not. So that left what I want more than anything, what I think I’m pretty good at, and something that has made many people lottery-rich throughout the years: writing. Yes, I need to write a best-seller. I need to write and write and write and one of these days, . . .
But I don’t have time for “one of these days”. I need this to happen soon. So now it’s time to put the second sentence of this prolific quote into action: “To dream by day is to make it happen.” Aha. So that’s my challenge. I need to sit back and think of how I want this to be. I need to sit up straight and get started. And I need to lean forward and go after it. Yes!
So today I profess to you that the dream has started. It is finally in the works. Don’t wake me up!