It's Never Too Late: How a Dream About a Broken Toy Made Me Trust in Myself Again by Samantha Harris

I dreamt once that a loved Dalmatian toy was taken from me and put in a museum. I found it and promised I would get it out, but first I was required to go through the rest of the museum. I did, but by the time I returned to my dog, the room was wrecked. My Dalmatian's spots were faded, its legs had been pulled off. In despair, I dug through the wreckage to look for all the pieces. I cried, "Why didn't I take you with me when I had the chance? Why didn't I take care of you?"

I had found a few pieces when a man told me it was closing time. I had to leave. I refused. He insisted, then said it was just a toy. I felt ashamed, then angry. How dare he belittle something so precious to me? I could make it real. I would make it real.

When I was a child I loved Dalmatians. They were not something chosen for me, but my first individual interest. In this dream, the Dalmatian represented my purist passions and ambitions.

The museum represented the way my life had been compartmentalized. It is school, work and the expectation of what an adult, a parent and a spouse should be. It is full of barriers.

When we are children we embrace what we love. We make promises to ourselves that one day we will do what we want. We continue to make promises as we grow. One day we will pursue that dream. One day we will be our true selves. Some of us get there, but many of us spend our time whispering, "One day ...one day..."

Then suddenly a day comes when we realize what once was something prized and loved is now faded and falling to pieces. What's more, we're running out of time. Maybe it is impossible now. Can it ever become something real?

Yes.

When all was lost in my dream, I raised my hands and willed the pieces to rise out of the wreckage. Then I woke. My waking mind rejected the grim reality my subconscious had painted.

We do not have to accept that it is too late or too broken. We can lift our passion in our hands and make the impossible possible, but it will take a little magic and a lot of willpower.

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