So much to see! So much to do! One lifetime is not enough!

Do you ever feel that one lifetime is not enough to see and do all the things you’d like to see and do? A couple of years ago, I finally got to see The Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina. It is an amazing place, especially when you consider when and how it was built. And yes, it is beautiful.

In 2014, we finally made it to Washington, D.C. I loved the trip. Too much to see and not enough time to see it all, but we hit the main spots. Our family loves history. What better place to explore our past than D.C.?

I am curious about our world and the people in it. My blog subtitle lets you know that I’m a dreamer. Maybe it’s because of all those books I read while growing up. I traveled the world, went back in time, had one career after another. All through books.

Reality, though, is nothing like those books. I never was a detective like Nancy Drew nor a nurse like Cherry Ames or a vet like the guy who wrote All Creatures Great and Small. I didn’t go around the world in 80 days, and I was never marooned on a Pacific Island like Swiss Family Robinson (thank goodness).

Instead, my life has been quite ordinary. I’ve had two careers. Banking and education. I liked banking better, but I met the most amazing people and made lifelong friendships through education. Not to mention that I really like young people.

But I also wanted to work in a big city in international business. I entertained the idea of being a missionary or working in the Peace Corps when I was young (got no support from either of those from my mother who feared for my safety). I wanted to be a cartoonist for Disney (the kind that drew by hand). I always wanted to have a house and five acres with a couple of dogs, some cats, and even a horse.

But I didn’t push hard enough for those things. I gave in too easily, made excuses for why I didn’t pursue them harder. You might think I didn’t want them that badly, but I think it is just my personality. I give in to others and what they want for me, like I did with my parents. Maybe I didn’t need to go off on my own as a missionary or work in the Peace Corps for safety reasons. Maybe I wouldn’t have liked being tied down to five acres and dogs, cats, and a horse nor would I have liked the expenses that went along with it. And obviously, I would have been replaced at Disney long ago, if I were even able to get a job there, by graphic artists.

But dreams are what keep some of us going. Sometimes we have to downsize the dreams, make them more achievable. Like competing the St. Jude half-marathon, which I did in December. Like getting new furniture for the living room. Like going to the lake instead of Florida for vacation or going to Florida instead of Europe.

I don’t want you to think all of my dreams are selfish ones. I, too, dream of a world that is a good, safe place for everyone. I dream of a political environment in which our leaders can work together. I dream of a world in which we can all get along. I give money to causes, try to do what I can for my community and church, and try to be the best wife, mother, and daughter I can be.

Yet that restless spirit is always within me. That spirit that wants to see so much more, experience so much more. That spirit that still loves the adventures found in reading and writing books, the spirit that longs to see new places and experience new things, and the spirit that still dreams, however unattainable those dreams may be.

There’s so much yet to see.