When my daughter
Was in elementary school
She filled out a questionnaire
That was part of a card
For Mother’s Day.
Those kinds of cards
Are always funny
Because kids write funny answers.

One of the questions was,
“What is something
Your mom always says?”

And she wrote,
“Don’t dream it,
Just do it.”

I laughed out loud
When I read that.
And I said to her:
“I’m not sure
I’ve ever said that
In my life.
When did I say that?”

Her reply was
Matter-of-fact:

“Well you didn’t.
But I wish you would.”

It was most likely
A mix of quotes
From Walt Disney
And Nike
And her imagination.

And the thing is,
She got her wish
(I think it’s called manifesting)
Because we still laugh
About that one time
When she made up an answer
For my Mother’s Day card.

And I say it all the time
Now.
Because I’m quoting her.

So anyway
I thought about this
Because recently,
I read the book
The Alchemist
Which is about dreams.

And what do you know?
There’s a part
On page 25, in fact,
When an old man
Is talking about a baker
And his dream
Was to travel.
But the baker
Was waiting to travel
Until he had saved enough money.

And the old man says this:

“He never realized
That people are capable,
At any time
In their lives,
Of doing what they dream of.”

And I started thinking
About my own dreams.
And when I was a kid,
I remember watching
The show
Kids Incorporated
And it was amazing.
Because they were just kids
But they were singing
And dancing
And performing
Like grown ups.
It was magical show
And a magical concept.

And I started thinking
About other dreams
I once had
As a little girl
About creating art
And writing poetry.

“At any time
In their lives.”
Was it actually true?

I started to realize
That my dream
To be a singer
Had, in fact
Been realized.

Except instead of singing
On a stage
Or on TV,
My performances
Were most often
For an audience of one,
In the form
Of bedtime lullabies.
And sometimes
Just me,
In the form
Of concerts in the car.

Added to my impressive resumé,
I was also a songwriter:
Lullabies and silly songs
To make my kids laugh.

And in that moment
I realized
That my childhood dream
To become a singer
Had been realized
Throughout my life,
And in my role
As a mom.

And other dreams of mine –
To dance and perform –
Were realized as a youth
With my cousin Kristin
(We were amazing choreographers)
And also as a mom
With my kids.
I just hadn’t realized it.

“People are capable,
At any time
In their lives,
Of doing what they dream of.”

What were my other dreams?
Maybe I’m realizing those now
As well.
And if not,
I can choose to do them
At any time.

What are your dreams?
Maybe you’ve also realized them
Without realizing it.
And if not,
I really believe
You are capable of choosing
At any time
To do what you dream of.

Or in other words,
Like my daughter says,
And like I always say:

“Don’t dream it,
Just do it.”

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