Dreams and Hopes

I have been thinking about dreams. Not like the dreams you have at night but the dreams and hopes you have for the future. 

Life has turned out so differently than I ever expected. It is not bad at all, and I am truly happy, it is just different than what my dreams and hopes had been. In some ways I stopped dreaming about what I want and have become grateful for what I have. I know what it is like to work hard for what you have even if it is not exactly what you want and to be grateful for what you DO have because it could be a lot worse.

I think that we live in a world where dreams are shattered every day. Many people are living from day to day hoping that next week they still have a job and are able to provide for their families. People don’t take time to dream anymore because reality comes in and steels their dreams away. 

If I could have one super power it would be the ability to heal broken hearts and shattered dreams. Of course I do not. I can’t tell you how many people I have spoken to who are hurting and longing for something better.  I was visiting with a friend the other day, who is struggling with the tragedy of broken, or rather shattered, dreams because of divorce. I have never been married so I can’t fully comprehend.  As I was listening to my friend I could see the pain in their eyes and I felt that my friend had dreams that had been shattered and broken. Now my friend is trying to make since of their new life. Then there are those who struggle with lost dreams, not through divorce but through bad decisions of others and even themselves. And there are those whose dreams and hopes never came. To my friend and to all those that are struggling with broken dreams, because there are many, stay strong and it will eventually get better. 

I love the conference talk “Sunday Will Come” by Joseph B Wirthlin; it talks about no matter how hard life gets it will get better. When I think of all the loss in the world I also think of the story of Job in the Bible. He was a man that lost all that he had and after a trial of his faith, a very long and difficult trial, he received all that he had lost and more. I like to think that it will be the same with each of us. We may lose quite a bit however if we stay strong we will be blessed with all that we lost and more. I have always felt that Heavenly Father will compensate for all the pain and loss that we endure.

So you ask, what are my dream and hopes? I have many

 

November 25, 2012

I was thinking more on the subject of dreams and hopes. I think that for me I have not stopped dreaming and hoping. My dreams and hopes have just changed for what they once were.

Here is a quote that I came across a few weeks ago that is on the same topic as I have written.

"I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." Henry David Thoreau

Quiet Time

Tonight my son is sick and as he sleeps I thought that I would take this quiet time to write.  I should probably be grading tests, analyzing them and creating warm-ups and tutoring groups to help my students, instead my mind is racing a million miles a minute thinking about everything.  I feel like I am always thinking and analyzing some aspect of my life, whether it is the gospel principles, my callings, being a mom, school, social life or just the relationships I have with other people. The thing however waying most on my mind right now is the state of our country, and if anything were to happen to our country how ill prepared I would be. I really need to get myself in a position where if anything were to happen I will be able to protect my little family.

I have never been very good with words and expressing myself in words, especially when emotions are involved. I am not exactly sure why that is, I am sure it has something to do with my past or some bad experience I had. It is kind of interesting how a bad experience can shape the way you interact with people and how you express yourself.

This week had its disappointments but it had its achievements as well. I have been working so hard with my students and we had a district test and one of my classes did so poorly. Because they did so poorly I have been consumed with trying to figure out what more I can do to make them successful and I have been looking at what I can change so that they can be more successful. In a way it has made me look at the way I am teaching and think of a better way of teaching. I often wonder if it is that way in life. We go through life just doing what we know best and when given a test we don’t achieve as high as we should or we think we should therefore we reevaluate our lives and change something here and something there and do better the next time. I guess that is why we were sent here to earth is to progress and we can’t progress unless we are willing to change and grow.

Thought

Sometimes life is never what we plan. There are times we need to endure hardships to understand the blessing and miracles of life. No matter how difficult something may be, we can always learn something from it. I have countless experiences where things have really not been easy however I have learned far more from those experiences then anything else.