Wish Right! Dream Bright!

Time has a way of creeping up on us. One day you are playing with your trucks and dolls, enjoying a mud pie or hiding from the thrill of doorbell ditch. You’re riding your bicycle down the street with your friends, playing kick-the-can or enjoying a game of basketball at the neighborhood court. You grumble home because it’s getting dark; you dream of a life with no rules. All the while, you wish that you were all grown up. And suddenly, YOU ARE.

The next thing you know, you are stressing through college, working hard, chasing that job, raising kids, paying bills and consuming your thoughts with how you will make ends meet. You're running to soccer and dance, helping with homework, doing laundry and cleaning the house. Maybe you're arguing with your spouse or fighting with the ex. Or, you are caring for a parent who can no longer care for themselves. In the rat race of it all, you are wishing that the kiddos were just a wee bit older so you don't have to buy diapers anymore ... wishing them older still so you don't have to pay for that sitter anymore ... hoping the time soon comes that you don’t have to play caretaker anymore ... meanwhile, dreaming of a time with no running, less stress and more money. But in the big picture, the latter day never comes.

Before long, you realize that after all this time of wishing, dreaming and hoping, the skin on the back of your hands has wrinkled and dark circles have set in under your eyes. Your luscious locks are less than luscious now, if you have any left at all. What you do have left, glistens with silver highlights even in the darkest of rooms. You wake up and your joints ache, your body ails and your mind wanders. People you grew up with and who you care for are more frequently leaving this earthly life and you begin to replace your hopes and wishes and dreams with thoughts of your own mortality. Where has all the time gone?

On the inside, you are still the same. You are the same vibrant young being, that young little whipper snapper who raised heck in the neighborhood as a kid. The one who fell in love, fell out of love, got in fights and made amends, who succeeded and failed and succeeded again; the one who loved to laugh, play jokes and have fun! But on the outside, you are just a shell of who you once were ... fragile and tired. You look in the mirror and the person looking back at you is no longer the same. The little ones you wished were just a little bit older, ARE, and you are no longer needed in the same way.

But this doesn't have to be a sad end to your story. With each day, we are given a new, clean slate with which to write upon. So whatever stage of life you are in ...

If you are going to WISH, wish hard and wish RIGHT! Wish for the things that money can’t buy; those things that cannot be owned or possessed. Those who attain these types of riches will never, ever be poor.

If you are going to DREAM, dream big and dream BRIGHT! Don’t limit yourself or settle for less than you deserve. If you have a dream, go for it! The only failure lies in the dream that remains dormant, simply because you were too afraid to try.

And if you are going to HOPE, hope for the wisdom and discernment to enjoy the time that you have been given and have not spent it, just wishing and dreaming your life away.