I never really had any dreams.

I’ll spare you the armchair psychobabble about why I think that is.  For now, all that’s important is that the whole business of planning big for the future is something relatively new to me.

Since I didn’t have dreams, I scoffed at New Years’ Resolutions, too.  I figured they were for the weak — for those who couldn’t just buckle down and do the dirty work on a daily basis.

Recently, I’ve had a change of heart, and I owe it to my kids.  Like most any parent would agree, kids teach us a whole lot more than we teach them.  I’m talking about the big, world-view-changing lessons that cause slow, subtle but immense shifts that twist us up at the core.  My lesson here:  life is too short to go without dreams and even resolutions (whether they’re made daily, monthly, annually or whenever).

Dreaming, I’ve come to see, is critical to a well-lived life.

For too long, I completely ignored the things I envied in others.  I didn’t listen to the little voices that talk in our heads when our brains are otherwise idle.  If I had a thought like, “oh, I wish I could _________,” I’d dismiss it without tuning in.

It’s not enough to simply take it one day at a time — even if you are otherwise a “productive” member of society with gainful employment and all the rest.  And it’s not okay to ignore the little voices.  Even if you are the very best Average Joe that you can be, it’s not enough unless there’s something you’re reaching for — something way out there.  Doing these things doesn’t advance anyone’s interests.  To eschew life dreams is to waste the space and air given to you on this planet.

See, kids need dreams.  (Take it from a kid who didn’t have any.  I wasted crazy effort and time wandering aimlessly.)  Don’t have kids of your own?  It doesn’t matter.  You owe it to the kids of the world village.  Teach them to dream by asking them questions.  Ask them of yourself, for that matter!  ”What would you change?”  “How could you make this work?”  And the oft-quoted, “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?”

You’re setting an example when you have a dream, and you’re putting your intention and energy out there for the universe to feel.  You owe it to the next generations to dream something — anything — and make it a big one.

So what’s yours?  And what will you do about it this year — what will you do right now?