THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

THE ADVICE TO "FOLLOW YOUR DREAM" IS NOT NECESSARILY GOOD. I HAD - I THINK - TWO DREAMS. WHEN ONE FAILED, IT BROKE MY HEART. THE OTHER'S FULFILLMENT WAS BOUGHT AT TOO HIGH A PRICE. TODAY, I UNWILLINGLY FOLLOW MY NIGHTMARES, WHICH I'VE DECIDED ARE JUST TRANSMOGRIFIED DREAMS.

SOME DREAMS, OF COURSE, ARE EVIL AS WHEN HITLER AND AMIN AL HUSSEINI HOPED TO ELIMINATE THE JEWS OR NAPOLEON HOPED TO RULE AS KING OF A EUROPEAN EMPIRE OR MUSLIM JIHADISTS HOPE FOR A CALIPHATE. SOME DREAMS MAY BE BETRAYED AS WHEN JOAN OF ARC TRIED TO RESTORE THE DAUPHIN TO THE THRONE OF FRANCE. SOME DREAMS ARE UNATTAINABLE AS WHEN MARTIN LUTHER KING JR'S FOLLOWERS HOPED THAT A BLACK AND WHITE UTOPIA COULD BE CREATED. SOME DREAMS DISGUISE THEMSELVES AS HARD WORK AND PERSEVERENCE. FOR EXAMPLE, THE 3RD MOST LISTENED-TO RADIO TALK SHOW, WILL NOW BE SEEN ON PRIME TIME T.V. FULFILLING GLENN BECK'S DREAM. MR. BECK EXPRESSED SURPRISE WHEN HE SAID, "I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING. " I AM SURE, HOWEVER, TO USE A MR. BECK WORD, HE 'FRIGGING' DOES.

FOR MOST PEOPLE, PURSUING ONE'S DREAM, PRACTICALLY SPEAKING, SHOULD BE OFF LIMITS. A DREAM PER SE IS UNREAL. EVERY HUMAN BEING IS NOT CUT OUT TO CAPTURE SOME SPECIAL GOLDEN GLORY IN AN IDEALIZED WORLD. A FALSE PERCEPTION OF REALITY CAN UNDO SUCCESSFUL LIVING. IT CAN UNDO AWARENESS, APPRECIATION AND RESPONSIBILITY OF DAY BY DAY EXISTENCE. I PREFER TO DEFINE A DREAM AS "WALKING THE LINE" OF A NECESSARY, YEARLY ROUTINE. IF UNDERTAKEN AND MAINTAINED IN A DUTIFUL AND POSITIVE MANNER, WHEN THE WALK HAS BEEN COMPLETED, THE TRAVELER WILL KNOW THAT HIS OR HER JOURNEY HAS BEEN A LEGITIMATE SUCCESS. HE OR SHE WILL HAVE ACHIEVED HAPPINESS. IS THIS NOT THE MEANING OF 'FOLLOWING YOUR DREAM"?