I love this poem by Langston Hughes. It reminds me to not dismiss my dreams as unrealistic childish fantasies. There’s so much data now that link a host of chronic diseases to stress and poor lifestyle choices. Playing it safe, settling, following a host of “shoulds”, living our lives to meet expectations of those we love; these can have an immense cost. Like it or not, I think that once we become biological adults, we are fully responsible for our lives and meeting our needs. By putting our dreams and desires aside, it causes internal explosions. Why would we do that to ourselves? What if we instead choose to be open to the possibility of making our dreams come true? Jung says that the clue to our earthly pursuits is looking to the activities we did (often as children) that made hours pass by like minutes. It’s not about the dream coming true, it’s about saying I deserve to live the life I dream about and I am going to be open to that coming true.