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If Wishes were Granted & Dreams Came True

May 22, 2012

Everyone goes through what most perceive to be a mundane daily life schedule.  For most of us, we get up the same time every day, work the same hours, come home to the ultimate question of the day, “what’s for dinner?” and try to complete what few chores, paperwork, social time or hobbies we can squeeze in before we head to bed and start all over again.

It is the mundane of daily life which endears us towards books and movies.  We can live an exciting life through a character we read about or follow throughout a movie.  With a few exceptions, we aren’t subjected to watching the characters floss their teeth, sort laundry, shop for groceries, sit in the office for 8 hours on the computer, lose sleep over a baby’s midnight feeding or any other daily dilemma a regular Joe or Joann might need to attend to.

For those who love to read, it is exciting to read a good book, get to know the characters and visualize the details the words describe.  For those who enjoy movies, it is exhilarating to become lost in a world of make-believe as you watch in awe the intense special effects so often attributed to feature films.  Both methods are an enjoyable way to get away from the routine of what we call life.

We often dream of living the life of the characters in our books or in the movies we watch.  But what if real life was like a book or the movies and we were able to live the adventure of a lifetime?  Could we really handle ourselves as well as the characters we read about or watch?  I don’t know about you but the escapades of Indiana Jones, Gandalf & Aragorn, James Bond, Ethan Hunt and Jason Bourne are all exciting but are also likely more than most people can tolerate.

I know it would be too much for me.  After the first couple of days treasure hunting with Dr. “Indiana” Jones, I’d be groveling for a hot meal (certainly not monkey brains) and an even hotter shower.  While hanging out with Aragorn and Gandalf might be a dream come true as far as characters go, I’d miss brushing my teeth and I would probably pee my pants at the first sight of Lurtz the Orc or Balrog in the Mines of Moria.

On the other hand, the life styles of the rich and famous are quite appealing so a week with James Bond would definitely be exciting…until we end the day crashing in some method of transportation.  Ethan Hunt, well, he’d be fun to tag along with wouldn’t he?  Maybe, except for that slim chance of getting shot at or thrown out a window.  I love the Jason Bourne series and it would be thrilling to know how to do just about anything, anywhere and at anytime but I don’t think that guy ever gets a good night’s sleep.  And I really, really like my sleep to be full, not fitful. 

If I was granted a wish or two or my dreams were to come true, I don’t think I’d wish to be like one of my favorite book characters.  My wish would be simple.  I only wish to live my life as a full-time writer, able to spend my days on what I truly love to do.  Beyond that, there are a few wishes and dreams I could think of which would make life easier:

What if, say, exercising in your dreams actually counted and made you burn calories and lose or maintain your weight?  There would be no guilt in having a chocolate sundae before bed or that maple bar for breakfast!

That, in a word, would be awesome.

What if, like in Stephen King’s Tommyknockers, a typewriter could be changed into this incredible machine that would write your thoughts while you were dreaming…essentially, letting you write not only during the day but also while you sleep?

It would be a writer’s dream and I imagine very likely why King wrote it into his novel.

What if we could communicate with our pets so that they could understand what we said to them?  “Don’t chew on my shoes, don’t dig in that flowerbed, don’t chase the cat, poop as far away from the house as you can.”  They might listen about as well as our children do but it would be worth a shot to make the wish anyway.

It would also give my husband less reason to tease me when he hears me speaking to my dogs.  

What if we could read everyone’s thoughts?  That ability would, of course, cause some issues but it sure would change the way we do things.  We’d already know if someone were up to no good, no one could ever lie, and there would be no faking your feelings towards another.  A person would have no choice but to “think” their mind (rather than the option to speak their mind) and the benefit would be never becoming bitter with unspoken words they really wish they could say.

Of course, such wishes and dreams are unattainable.  However, my wish or my dream to become a full-time writer need not be placed in the same category as dreamt calories lost, fantastic and unbelievable inventions or psychic abilities more believable in fiction.  A wish is a strong feeling of wanting something to happen or wanting to have something while a dream is based on a hope, a longing or an ambition.  While a dream may be difficult to attain or may be far removed from the present circumstances, it is not completely unattainable. 

So I will continue to wish and I will continue to dream but even more so, I will continue to move forward towards what I know is an attainable end.  I will also remember these words by Eleanor Roosevelt…”It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.” 

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