Dream On

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the desert of truth
To the river so deep
We all end in the ocean
We all start in the streams
We're all carried along
By the river of dreams

This song by Billy Joel has been a timeless classic for me. It’s this gush of positivity when I have felt low and hopeless.

Today this song just queued up on my YouTube auto play list and made me think…

Why is it that this song never fails to bring a smile?

Am I more of a dreamer than an achiever?

Is imagination more attractive to me that being realistic?

What drives me, Inspiration? or Results?

Am I more emotional than being practical?

And for all these questions…what is the right thing be to be “successful” in today’s world?

After a few hours of debating with myself I did gain some clarity. These questions boiled down to a goals vs dreams conversation.

Goals and dreams are very subjective. Something that could be a goal for one person would be a dream for another. It is all about what ecosystem you are in at that point in time. As far as I can recollect, growing up my dreams kept changing as I was exposed to the bigger world around me. They say that “Dreams aren’t easily fulfilled”, I don’t think so. As a 10-year-old I would dream of visiting the United States and driving a car or maybe owning one. It appeared to be seemingly impossible then but long fulfilled and feels like a piece of cake now. Today I have “bigger” (bigger again is such a subjective word) dreams and ever so changing.

In my endeavor to “Live the Dream” I realize that I have achieved many smaller tangible “goals” that have enabled me to get more creative, imaginative and aspirational with my next dream.

So, there is no right or wrong to define success. For me, my dreams drive me forward and onward. So, dream on…paint your picture…experiment with colors…the canvas is infinite. As Billy said…. “The River of Dreams”.