“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Those words of wisdom by Mark Twain were meant to inspire, to propel us from the daily grind into the welcoming world of possibility, where dreams are pursued and sometimes come true. That’s where we’re headed in today’s lesson.
At different points in my life, I’ve wanted to be a major league baseball player, a writer, a psychologist, a mathematician and a rock star. One by one, most of these dreams were pushed aside for perfectly good reasons. I can’t sing, I can’t hit a baseball, I was confounded by differential equations and I’m uncomfortable around lab mice.
What about you? What were some of your dreams and goals? Make a list and answer these questions about each one:
• Did it come true?
• If so, why? If not, why not? Any regrets?
• Do you still hope to fulfill it?
• What are you doing to make it happen?
There are lessons to be learned from your personal history. Consider the hopes and dreams you have for those who follow you. What do you wish for your descendants? Consider these areas:
• Family
• Career
• Lifestyle
• Environmental issues
• Culture and heritage
• Values
Put your past dreams and goals at the proper spot in your timeline. Put your future hopes and dreams at the end.
Monday: Putting it all together
This is Lesson No. 19 of a mini-course on how to write a personal history. The course will continue throughout May, which is Personal History Month. To get future lessons delivered to you, you may subscribe to our RSS feed or get e-mail delivery to your inbox. It’s easy. Details can be found in the column to the left of this post.
Author Larry Lehmer's book about Dick Clark and American Bandstand -- Bandstandland: How Dancing Teenagers Took Over America and Dick Clark Took Over Rock & Roll --is available from Sunbury Press. His book about the last tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens -- The Day the Music Died -- is available at Amazon.
Flickr photo courtesy of eckiblue.
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