69 / "If You Don't Have A Dream, Gary, ...

...you can't have a dream come true."

This is what my father told me, on more than one occasion. In fact, he wrote these words in the front of a copy of his favorite book, "As A Man Thinketh," by James Allen, which he then gave to me on my birthday in 1961.

Sexist language aside (getting beyond that, which everyone should do), I think of this book as a powerful work, and I've continued the tradition, by giving a copy to each of my children.

On a philosophical level, I remember my entire childhood and growing up period as a debate with my father, centered on a discussion about what is "possible."As he also said, in the front of my book, "you can do anything..." My part in the debate was to deny it.

I am still engaged in the inquiry, but I am ever more willing to see that my father was right.

Caveat: we can make our nightmares come true, too!