STARLIGHT, STAR BRIGHT

Pearl of the day: Peripheral vision required

My mother is a therapist and during her sessions she doles out a great pearl of wisdom, “When staring up at the stars be careful not to trip over your feet.”

It’s easy to be swept away by your dreams, especially the good ones. I often go off chasing the stars. When I was younger, I wished upon a star for a family, entertainment career and making a positive contribution to the world. Yet in order for my dreams to materialize there were practical steps required.

Unlike my grandiose dreams, my grandfather had very simple dreams. Being a Holocaust survivor, his true dream was to live and have a family. He had little, wanted little, yet was so rich in spirit. His family was his riches and he treasured us like gold pieces.

Yet, he loved that I had big dreams and I would say “I want to meet and work with Stephen Spielberg.” I had my heading and followed my stars. They led me to various entertainment internships, law school, an entertainment production and distribution company, an entertainment law practice, blog and now radio show. Those were my professional dreams and I haven't even hit my stride yet.

Rarely do people actually live the life they dreamed of and I wonder why. Usually this thing called reality sets in and concessions are made as parents forego their dreams in order to make a living or we succumb to another’s idea of what our life should be like. This becomes our living nightmare.

Many parents feel unfulfilled and their dreams take a backseat to the wants and needs of their children. If we are stopped short of our dreams, will our children have the gusto to actualize their dreams? Or will the cycle continue? Is it possible for the whole family to live the life of their dreams?

Children will wish upon a star yet may not quite know how to express why or how. Parents have the fun job of listening, interpreting and helping find their path to achieve their dreams. Yet can we keep an eye on their prize without diluting the meaning for them or skewing their dreams towards our projections or worse not providing enough reality and they get totally spaced out. It's an awesome responsibility.

It’s a gift to help children discover, express and work towards manifesting their dreams. I can totally picture my son as an engineer and daughter as a surgeon utilizing nanotechnology. While my son probably wants to be a Jedi and my daughter - a Princess. Yet, who knows what the stars have in store, perhaps a future General and the President.

In the meantime, I love observing who they are and who they are becoming and what they gravitate towards. Before my son heads off into dreamland, we peer out the window and into the nighttime sky. When the stars are out he gets super excited and yells “I see stars!” When they are not shining we wonder where they went.

Having dreams is part of our universal spirit and desire to be the most complete person possible. Reaching for the stars while keeping your feet on the ground is a skill and not beyond your reach. Achieve your dream and dream anew!

TUNE IN: Mommas Pearls Radio Show www.blogtalkradio.com/mommaspearls
Starlight, Starbright: We’ll dive deeper into our dreams and their meaning with special guest Cathy Pagano, dream interpreter, astrologer & Jungian Psychologist and can be reached at www.wisdom-of-astrology.com

Copyright © 2010 Cynthia Litman d/b/a Tigris Imprints. All Rights Reserved.