I am in the middle of reading the book Good to Great by Jim Collins. He describes a meeting with a POW of the Vietnam War named Jim Stockdale. Stockdale described how only the optimists were defeated, because they would say to themselves, “We’re going to get out by Christmas!” Then nothing. Then they would say, “We’re going to get out by Easter!” Then nothing. Eventually, they would be defeated.

In my last post, I wrote how I’m going to get upset when I can’t interact with my child the way I want to. Despite this, I’m going to have a good time. I contend that this attitude is going to soften the blow when I cannot do something.

In every sense of the word, I’m a dreamer, and I was crazy enough to think my dreams could come true. After I have a dream, I have to bring my dream into reality. There are times when I think about walking, hopping in the car, or just taking a backpacking tour across Europe. I understand that there are things that are just fantasies. Something not to focus on. If I focus on my fantasies, then I will get hurt. I never banked on a cure. Although that would be freaking amazing. I mean, FREAKING AMAZING. But would if it never happened in my lifetime?

It’s awesome to have dreams that you can achieve. I have them also, but there’s also a reality. It’s O.K. to push the limits of reality. Heck, I’m a speaker with a speech impediment. Sometimes we have to let go of false hopes or else we are going to live in the endless cycle of dreams and broken hearts.