By Staff
Melissa Cason
Over the last week, we heard a lot of talk about dreams and making them a reality.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream, and this week, our nation's first black president took office.
While Dr. King's dream was for equality, we can all have dreams. I guess what I mean to say is we should all have dreams.
To me, a dream is a life goal. Dr. King did not live to see his dream become a reality, but many of us do.
When I was a child, I wanted to be president. Then, I wanted to be Miss America.
Neither of those dreams ever came close to getting off the ground. Luckily for me, over time, my dreams changed.
When I was in the eighth grade, my science teacher asked our class what we wanted to be when we grew up. When it came to my turn, I simply said 'a journalist.'
I really don't know where the answer came from. I mean it was so much cooler at my school to want to be a doctor, attorney or even a teacher. I was the only person I graduated with that actually wanted to work in the world of news.
Over the years, my dream has changed. When I entered college as a freshman, I was pursuing a broadcast journalism degree, which is why I decided to go to Little Rock.
I could have went to four other schools in the state, but I chose Little Rock because of the three major television stations there who would be looking for interns.
But, after my first taste of what broadcasting was like, I decided to go back to my roots when I transferred to Alabama after marrying Jimmy. I went back to my first love, my comfort zone.
My dream has changed once again. I used to think I'd be happy writing news forever, but the truth is nothing stays the same. I love to write news. It's my first love, but I plan to venture into other avenues eventually.
I have a dream to write a novel based on the life of my late grandmother. I figure if I add a little spice to her already awesome stories, I'd have a best seller. Maybe I'm right or maybe I'm wrong. I know I'll never know if I don't at least get started.
I'm not the only one thinking about my dreams. Jimmy has been looking for his path since Christmas. As you all know, he has worked in the oil field for the past two years. But, he recently got laid off thanks to the lower oil prices and unstable economy.
During his time off work, he has been thinking about what he is going to do with the rest of his life.
Over the past two years, we, as a married couple and as people, have learned that money is not everything. That having enough money to meet your obligations is important, but having stockpiles of it is quite another.
In the past two years, Jimmy has sacrificed time with me and the boys. That's time we can never get back even if we wanted to, all because he made more money out there.
Having this time off has made Jimmy realize what he wants to do with his life, and he's taking steps to make his dream come true.
I guess the moral of this story is that we need to have dreams and we all must take risks to make them happen. They don't just happen. You have to make them happen. That's why there's that saying 'there are two kinds of people: Those who do things and those who dream of doing things.'
But, if you ask me, you can't have one without the other.
Here's hoping all of your dreams come true.