On Dreams...

School has been super awful this semester. And sometimes it really gets me down. These are the times when I wonder why I am even in school at all. Why don't I just leave? Then I think, "What would I do if I left?" It is at this point that I realize that I don't really have much of a clue what I am going to do when I finish anyway, so why not just leave now and figure it out sooner than later? I know I want to be an entrepreneur, I have some ideas I could get started, and all this I want to do so I can live my dreams. It was at this point in my stream of consciousness that I realized I don't really have many dreams...

This turned out to be quite a startling thought for me. I felt like I had just grown so accustomed to a life of school and schedules and jobs, that I had a hard time answering the question: "What would you do if money was not an issue?" So I have thought about that question a lot lately. And it has been a lot harder than you might think to come up with dreams that matter to me, rather than just stealing other peoples because they sound cool. But I have thought of a few things, and I know I am going to need to make this list longer, but these are some of my dreams that I am going to live... Starting this year.

1. Someday, I want to live in Dominica with Katie, even if it just for a month or two. For those of you who don't know, I am not referring to the Dominican Republic. Dominica is a southern Caribbean island we visited last November, and one of the most beautiful places in the world. They call it "The Nature Island" as well as "The Island of Longevity" because they have one of the highest percentages of people over 100 in the world. They grow everything you have ever heard of and more, and the produce there looks like it is on steroids. Plus, dozens of waterfalls, rivers, beaches, and even a boiling lake. Hurricanes are rare, and there are no deadly animals on the island. Paradise...

2. Learn a martial art. I am not 100% decided on which one, though. This is another one that Katie and I both want to do together. For most of my life I was not a fan of this idea, but recently it has sounded more and more appealing, and I am excited to give it a try.

3. Fencing. Weird, I know. But it is another thing I really want to learn and am excited about. So I will.

4. Travel. This one has always been on my list, and I have various specifics destinations I would like to go to, but I will not bore you with the details of each one. I just want to see and experience as much of the world as I can.

5. Become an [amateur] survivalist. I really want to learn more about this kind of stuff. Not like I ever plan on just marching into the mountains one day to live there indefinitely, but I would like to be able to just in case it was ever necessary, or for a weekend or something. But I think I should throw a disclaimer in there, I do not want to be Bear Grylls and learn how to survive in any environment in the world and eat camel dung or whatever. Just be able to live in the mountains like that crazy guy in southern Utah. Except without all of the felonies...

6. Rock Climbing, this could kind of be paired with the last one, since it could be described as a survivalist skill, but I figure I would learn them from different places.

7. Kayaking. I feel like I might like this one, I pretty much need to give it a try and then see if it really is one of my dreams to get god at it, I have it on here as a potential dream.

8. Become a hot-air balloon pilot. Yeah, I pretty much can't think of many things that would be cooler than owning and piloting my own hot-air balloon.

9. Write a book. I am not sure what on, how long, or even what genre... I just want to.

10. This last one is no secret or revelation, I have dreamed of being a successful entrepreneur for years, and in fact I view it as the dream that makes the others possible. For this reason it should probably have been first, but it seemed rather poetic to have the last be the first, so I kept it the way it is.

Well, that looks like a good start to me. I am going to take a lighter class load in the fall and sign up for either martial arts or fencing lessons, and have somewhat of a "mini-retirement." Except without the travel. (Unless of course you count the cruise I will go on in November) So there you have it, and more importantly, there I have it. This is mostly a post for me. One to help me get my thoughts down in writing and give some clarity to them. If you have any dreams, fulfilled or not, comment them below. It might help me get some more inspiration...