Are you living your dream?

I met a woman the other day, early 70s, I think, who told me that she and her husband had planned to be traveling these days. They worked hard their whole lives, saved money, and dreamed of when they would be free to travel. Then, about the time they were counting down to their freedom, her husband developed a rare disease that took away his eyesight. End of dream.

How about your dream? Are you living it or waiting for some "perfect" time when circumstances are just right? Years ago, when I was in my late 30s, I left a comfy life to follow my own dream. I sold everything and bought a tiny motorhome to become a wandering travel writer. Invigorated, but often questioning my sanity, I hit the road. For much of the next ten years, I drove 150,000 miles of America, writing and publishing my "on the road" newspaper Out West. Not a month passed that I didn't receive at least one letter from a reader who said, "Chuck, I admire you for following your dream. I had a dream, too, but then I got sick (or my wife got sick) and now it can never happen."

In my case, those ten years were incredibly rewarding -- ah. . . the people, the places. . . the adventure! Alas. . . that decade also left me broke. Still, it was worth every penny I didn't have.

If, in your heart, you have a dream for your life, then march toward it beginning today. Don't wait! No excuses! Time has a way of swiftly slipping by, and it has no preference whether we live a life of dreaming or live the life we dream.

"To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top." -- Robert M. Pirsig

"How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!" -- Jane Austen

"Today's egg is better than tomorrow's hen." -- Turkish proverb