A Single Moment

      Can a dream change your life? That's a question that I wonder a lot about.

      When I was a kid, I used to pretend that I was really a princess who was lost. I did this when my sister and I would get in a fight and I would end up being the one to get in trouble. I was sure the reason was because I didn't really belong there and that there was a huge castle with people looking for me. I imagined a whole kingdom was sad because I was gone.

      As I grew up, that dream faded along with a lot of the other thoughts I had for my life. I still had dreams about what I wanted to do with my life, they just no longer involved being a princess. I accepted my fate. For the longest time I was sure that meant I had to take what I was given and swallow it. It didn't matter that I wanted to sky dive or climb a mountain. As life continued, it didn't matter what I put out there, I was doomed not to succeed. I was destined to be with a man who was abusive, someone who lied to me all the time and no matter what: I was destined to not succeed in anything I tried to do.

      All that changed one night. I had a dream. Oddly enough, I dreamt I was talking to Biggie Smalls AKA the Notorious B.I.G. I don't know why. I wasn't even a huge fan of his. When he was alive I was too busy being a punk rock kid, annoying my parents and coming home late. I didn't start listening to his music until a couple years ago. What a shame someone took that big hearted man away.  But what he said to me changed the way I viewed things. He told me that I wasn't finished yet and that I needed to keep going and I was on the right path. I was just beginning to write the novel I'm working on now. I spoke with a friend of mine about this. She said that it was a message from beyond. Truth be told, I don't know if that's true. What I do know is this, It changed the way I viewed everything I had tried in my life. It made me believe that everything I had been through in life lead me to this point. It made me start to believe again.

      Belief in yourself is something that is needed to accomplish anything in life. How can you give your kids the confidence they need to make it in life if you don't believe in yourself? The simplest answer is you can't.  I love that my kids know I'm trying to get published. I love knowing they are seeing that I'm not giving up, no matter what. Believe. See it. Know it. Live it. It's not always easy, but it is possible.

      The following is a story shared by a friend of mine named Tessa Schlesinger

      Dreams change me... 2 1/2 decades ago, I used to dream of snakes every single night. I did so for years. Then, one day I heard a broadcast on how Carl Jung interpreted dreams. Using the same method, I interpreted my snake nightmare. Turned out I was petrified of people. I decided to shoot the snakes in my dreams - and ...I did. I lost my fear of people. That method helped me to conquer PTSD (Most South Africans my age have it.) and many other difficulties. Last night I had a yukky dream again, but using that interpretation method, I know what it means, and from years of experience, I know that the moment I understand the dream, the condition changes. When I understood what dreams were and how interpreting them accurately could change one's life forever, it was truly a moment that changed my life forever!

      The original question, Can a dream change your life? For me, I have to say yes. They are the reason some people shoot for the stars and keep going no matter what. They make life and imagination possible. What a wonderful thing dreams are...