My American Dreams

I recently read a great blog post titled, "Is the American Dream Holding You Back?"  Well...is it?  So often we find ourselves working, working, working that we forget to actually live our lives.  I'm certainly not one who has this balance all figured out, but what I like about this post is that the author challenges that our society thinks "working like a dog is virtuous and personal enrichment is self-indulgent."  I couldn't agree more.  Do you ever feel a bit a guilt for taking a vacation from work?  Have you ever met someone who finds pride in never taking vacation?  For me?  Yes...and yes.  Don't get me wrong.  I of all people strongly believe in feeling passionately about your work and giving it your all.  I believe in hard work and that sometimes you will have to make sacrifices and figure out a system of balance. I have huge respect for driven hard workers.  This post, though, isn't suggesting we become lazy.  It's just suggesting that sometimes we chase so hard after The American Dream.....that we forget to pursue our own.  Perhaps we too easily forget that the American Dream doesn't, and shouldn't!!, look the same for everyone.  The American Dream is rooted in the freedom to pursue happiness.  What does happiness look like for you? 

Yes, I actually thought about all of this! 

This thinking led me to start considering some of my own dreams.  What are some experiences I would really like to have during my life?  What are some good-intentioned things that, when I flirt with the idea, cause a stirring in my heart and gut?  A clear clue that this would bring me a feeling of happiness.  No matter how large or how small.  How seemingly unattainable or simiplistically ordinary.  Like a bucket list.  Except I don't like to call it that because it just seems rather depressing to create a list of "to-dos" before I kick-the-bucket.  As I began this list I started to realize that this could be turned into a "favorite things" piece simply because I have a feeling that this list will start to be one of my favorite things ONCE I start crossing some of this stuff off!!!

So call it what you will, but here is my incomplete and ongoing list of what MY American Dream looks like...

1. Go white water rafting
2. Eat pizza and drink wine in Italy
3. Get my picture in front of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in NYC
4. Take a cooking class (ANY cooking class)
5. Go on a mission trip
6. Find an organization I'm passionate about and consistently offer hands-on volunteer work
7. Lead a bible study for high school or young college-aged girls
8. Learn to surf (ok...learn to STAND UP on a surf board)
9. Knit a scarf
10. Hike to a huge waterfall (preferably in Hawaii) :)
11. Learn to play golf...and like it (I should add as #12 PRACTICE PATIENCE!!!)
12. Learn to latin dance--come on, hips shakin', fringe, twists and spins.  Yes, please!
13. Learn how to use my cast iron skillet (it intimidates me)
14. Empower college students to believe in and value themselves
15. Be in a dance flash mob!!
16. Make time in every single day for God to have my undivided attention
17. Be a Dove Campaign for Real Beauty spokesperson (I may not be model material, but I am so passionate about women not buying society's definitions of "beauty" but rather loving themselves for exactly the way that they are.  And this campaign preaches just that).
18. Take my future niece or nephew to Disneyworld (I literally have a reoccuring about doing this)
19. Own a beach house on Seabrook Island, SC
20. Learn to shoot a gun REALLY well
21. Go fishing in Jackson Hole, WY
22. Plant my own vegetable garden
23. Never stop exercising, no matter how old I get
23. Read books to my future children at night
24. Get over my fear of people seeing me cry
25. Own a golden retriever
26. Floss everyday for a year (ok, for the rest of my life...baby steps, people!)
27. Bake a coconut and apple pie as good as my Grandma does
28. Learn how to make all of my Grandma's Thanksgiving recipes
29. Ride around somewhere beachy in a convertible, hair down, music blaring
30. Go rollerblading down a beach boardwalk
31. Own a soft-top Jeep and drive it around in the Spring/Summer
32. See a volcano (preferably not errupting)
33. Master real push-ups on my toes...chest to deck...everytime
34. Remember that people get more excited about receiving snail mail than e-mail...and actually put that into practice more.
35. Remain humble enough to accept my mistakes and learn from them
36. Teach a communication class (interpersonal, non-verbal, conflict resolution, anything!)
37. Learn how to grill!
38...........

So clearly the ".............."  indicates that I've decided to keep this list ongoing  Checking off any of my American dreams that I am blessed enough to complete--or have the fortitude to complete!  So here goes nothing.  Pursuing what makes me happy.

And this is why My American Dreams list is hopefully going to become one of my MOST favorite things!