Dreams are vital… so much so that this is the third time I’ve written about them! A few years ago I pointed out that the dreams we have while sleeping help us to sift through all the information that we absorb over the course of a day, and it is when we are in this deep sleep that our brains recharge. The dreams we have while awake serve a similar function for our spirit, allowing us to process, to recharge. Both other times I’ve written on this topic, I’ve stressed that in marriage, sharing dreams with our spouse is critical. Dreams that don’t get shared wither… or worse, fester. Why then, would anybody not share their dreams with the person they have chose to spend the rest of their life with?
If a marriage has not always been a place of safety, fear could be a reason; fear of what the other person will think, of rejection. When a marriage isn’t a place where transparency is valued, where openness is cultivated and honesty treasured a spouse could fear that his or her dream would not be taken seriously. Rather than risk the disappointment of their dream going unfulfilled they don’t share. A dream can’t be crushed if it is never set in motion, never released from the confines of one’s soul. Of course, it can’t ever be realized if not set free either.
Maybe the intent is there to share, but we wait; for the right time, for our spouse to seem ‘receptive’ to new ideas, for when the various complications that life is throwing at us right now to get settled. We wait for when the kids are older, or out of the house. We wait for when we are more financially comfortable, for when we don’t have to work these long hours all the time. We wait. And the clock ticks, and days, months, years go by. Sometimes we forget we had that dream at all.
Bruce Lee said "When you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done." We must take action, or else our dreams will never come to fruition. We are not guaranteed a tomorrow, so waiting until things are perfect - or even just better - is eroding our chances of seeing our dreams realized.
Make a pact with your spouse. Set aside time on a regular basis to share dreams. Little dreams, big dreams, practical dreams and absolutely outlandish dreams. Wholesome dreams and racy dreams, bedroom dreams and whole, wide world dreams. Speaking them aloud will make them real. Praying out loud has a profound effect on your soul; you must commit to a prayer to speak it. Talking about your dreams will have a similar impact. You must own it; speaking it aloud gives it a life it would never have attained if it remained only in your head or heart
Not all dreams come true, but some will - if they are acted on! Every dream that remains just a dream will grow stale, and eventually die. We dream what we dream for a reason; it is part and parcel of who we are, of how we are made... fearfully and wonderfully. They are among the gifts that God has given us. We honor our creator by taking them seriously, by acting on them, by striving to make them real. Some may even be part of our very purpose for being placed on this earth.
Treat them as that important, and see what happens.
