Dreams by Jay Goodman

Can everyone imagine what life would be like if each of us didn’t have the ability to dream? I mean think about it, it
doesn’t matter how big or small each person’s dreams are, it’s because of dreams that everything we see in the world
exists. From the time we are children we start dreaming of what we want to become. I can remember when I was a kid
many children from my neighborhood admired baseball players, others wanted to be police officers, firemen, race car
drivers, the typical things a lot of kids dream of becoming. Naturally as the years go by, our dreams change and by
the time we go to college, we usually decide then which path we are going to take, but even with that said, we are
constantly dreaming of things we want to do throughout our entire lives. Dreaming is a constant habit that no matter
how old you are never goes away. Without the ability to dream there’s no way we could evolve into a better human
being.

Dreaming is essential for life, my father used to tell me several sayings throughout my life, the first was “Son when
you stop moving, you start dying.�?, the second was “Son when you stop dreaming, you stop living.�? When I was young
that made sense to me, but now that I am almost sixty, I really understand what he was saying, to continue to grow and
become something with meaning, we will have to dream big. In our lives there is a great danger in believing that who
we are, where we are and what we have is all there is. You cannot live without dreams, dreams foster hope and hope is
one of the forces by which men and women live, to dream is the easiest thing in the world, there are no limitations to
dreaming, but as we get older we experience pain, failure, criticism and disappointment, gradually limiting our
dreams. We seek to live in the comfort zone, but in all reality, there is no such thing. It is much more difficult to
try and live in a comfort zone than it is to follow your dreams because the comfort is only an illusion, but our
dreams are real. I believe everyone should ask themselves a serious question, will you spend the rest of your life
chasing an illusion or following your dreams?

I was watching an interview once on Larry King, he and one of the guests were discussing the effects of the fear of
failure on our decision-making process, his guest said, “What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?�? For a
lot of my fellow prisoners, I see they spend years in here living in an illusion, if they do dream, their dreams are
of the past, not of their future, as I said they seek to live in a comfort zone. Most believe their dreams begin the
day they are released. What they don’t understand is their dreams begin in here, not when they leave. Don’t be afraid
to dream, perhaps your fear is of failure, but if one was to go back in time and study the people who accomplished
great things, you would quickly discover they had failed many times before they finally succeeded, the only difference
is these men never stopped dreaming. Failure is just part of life, every single man or woman will experience it, there
is no shame in trying to attempt mighty things and failing, the shame is in failing to attempt those things. I have
always loved a quote from Michelangelo, the great renaissance artist and poet, he knew the value, power and need for
dreams when he wrote, “The greatest danger for most of us, is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it
is too low and we reach it.�?. Our dreams are a self-reflection, tell me what your dreams are and I will tell you what
type of person you are. Define your dreams clearly and precisely and you will know for yourself what type of person
you are. If you do not like what you discover, remember you created your dreams and in doing so, you formed the person
you are today. If you don’t like who you are, the life you are living, it may seem like bad news to hear that you have
created the person you are today and the life you are living. The good news is, you can re-create your dreams and
become a new creation. Don’t let the hustle and bustle of life drag you down, don’t allow the day to day things of
prison life to hold you back. It’s easy to get caught up like drudgery of prison and let it distract you from your
dreams. Every day take time to dream. Imagine what you are capable of and start living that life now.

Let us live every day in the counsel of Thoreau, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve
imagined.�? Sometimes I ask the prisoners around me, what’s your dream? To my surprise, many can’t tell me, everyone
needs to take a moment and think about it. From my experience in here many people believe they have it together, but
their actions show they are just wondering souls. If they do dream, they dream about the same trash that brought them
here to begin with. Their main focus is not on reality, it’s on being a criminal or being high. Remember these are not
dreams, those thoughts will only lead you to a life of nothing. Somewhere deep inside every man and woman, there is a
desire to achieve or do something in your life. Foster that desire, nurture that desire, adopt habits that help you
rekindle that desire, otherwise your life is in danger of becoming an utter waste, you will become like a candle in
the wind, a victim of circumstance and every time the wind stops blowing you will wish you had placed you essential
purpose at the center of your life. The winds of life will blow once more, changing direction and distracting you
again from what is really important. You will get caught up in the episodic cycle of the modern world, and your life
will bear no signs of continuity or consistency. You might achieve a few things and you will have things, but you will
be restless, bored and anxious. There will be a sense that there must be more will haunt you continually, the feeling
that something is missing will linger on the edge of everything you do; and many years from now in the dim light of
your distant memory, you will remember the dreams you ignored and abandoned. You will feel a pain that cannot be eased
or consoled. Regret over things left unsaid and undone is inconsolable. Just because we’re in prison doesn’t mean our
dreams stop, the only thing that can stop you from dreaming is you. Now is your time, you have but one life and it’s
short. So, learn to use it powerfully. As Goethe wrote, “Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.�? Take time
each day and dream of the life you want to live. What do you have to lose?

Everyone’s future is what you make of it, the great people throughout history removed all limitations from their
dreams and once they established their dreams, they chased them with unrelenting energy. Do not let your life be like
a shooting star. Which lights up like the sky for only a brief moment. Let your life be like the sun, it always burns
brightly in the heavens, bringing light and warmth to all those on earth.