A promise lost, a lie undone, is relatively light wear. But what’s the cost, where is the fun, when dream becomes a nightmare?

At numerous levels, both the personal and collective dreams, hopes & desires of our lives will rarely turn out exactly the way we envisioned they would. My dream to become a pilot conceals hidden costs associated with that endeavor, and if that hope develops into an obsession, other areas of my life will most surely suffer.

In a grander sense, it may be arguable that the collective American Dream has become the Worlds Nightmare. The big mortgage, a lustful consumerism, with all of its associated expenses, can not only lead to a great deal of personal anxiety, but also mask human rights violations of the poor children laboring in foreign sweatshops that allow our “dream” to become reality.

Dreams are good to have. They foster creativity and provide a canvas for individual expression. But would it not be wise to first check them against the actuality of any given state of affairs in our society? Do our dreams always deserve the preferred front row seating in our minds, or shall we allow Prudence to usher them accordingly with respect to the greater concerns of all?

Dreams are mere thoughts of desire. How will they ever be deserved? To the few who attain them and to those who never will, should we not attempt to understand that the Reality is the only thing which is truly deserved, for the Reality is the only thing which is truly earned.