Dream!
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“Life is never easy for those who dream.”
— Robert James Waller
“Life is never easy for those who dream.” When I first read these words, I thought, “how true;” and then I realized that I was falling in step with people who like to define “life” and “dream” and “easy” in ways that I would like to avoid.
I tried to figure out just what this statement was supposed to mean. Is it a caution against dreaming? It could be that. “Life is never easy for those who dream,” so stop dreaming and give yourself a break — after all, how much difference can one person make in the midst of the great, wide world? Just leave your dreams behind, and cut yourself a break.
Is it a statement made by the dreamer who sees himself as a martyr? “Life is never easy for those who dream.” Take me, for example; I am a dreamer, and it makes my life so difficult that the rest of you couldn’t possibly understand the pain I suffer in order to go on dreaming and make our world a better place. Everyone should pity me and pamper me; for, after all, I am sacrificing myself for all of you (since you are too lazy to do the work yourselves).
Is it a statement of grieving for the sense of community that one loses when s/he chooses a singular path? “Live is never easy for those who dream,” because my dream takes me walking on an unexplored path that my loved ones do not choose to follow. I become tired while walking alone, and I long for the companionship I left behind when I split off from the group. I feel like I’ve been forced to choose between my life and my dream; and I wish I could have both.
As I pondered the many meanings that could be expressed in those eight words, my mind composed a new sentence:
“Life without a dream, once one has become a dreamer, is never tolerable.”
I began to think that the original words were spoken by someone who observed the dreamer, and not by the dreamer himself. A true dreamer of dreams transcends the ordinary plane of our daily existence and lets the dream soar above all the rest of life — not replacing it, but making its meaning more apparent. “Life is never easy for those who dream.” I think these are the words of the person who has not yet left fear behind and allowed his dream to take flight.
Where would we be without dreams? I think of all the things that have changed during my own lifetime — things that felt like they had always been the same and would never be any other way. I think of segregation and the way that a bunch of dreamers blazed a new trail that led us to a world of tolerance. I think of all the trails that still need to be explored so that we can look past our differences and find a way to embracing our shared humanity — in spite of the beliefs, the ideologies, and the opinions that divide us.
Imagine a world where dreamers all dreamed, where everyone thought beyond the way things are today. Imagine a world where people looked at all sides of an issue and then began to dream of a way to bring them all into harmony. As long as there are human beings, there will be disagreements; but if we learn to dream of tolerance and love, perhaps we can learn to co-exist. Life may not be easy for those who dream, but it is intolerable for a dreamer to leave her dreams behind.