If memories are our yesterdays and dreams are our tomorrows, today is that fine line where your memories and dreams colide. Sometimes I find myself mindful of my past through memories of regrets, botched relationships, unfinished accomplishments, or pivotal failures. At these times, I cannot help but fall into a dark hopeless place called despair. On the contrary, I often find myself catapulting through space and time to a place where I have no regret and accomplishment is a common word. This is a place where confidence is my life’s blood and drive is my every breath. Individually, my tomorrows are full of dreams and hopes and aspirations that only I can achieve. Today I stand in the middle of my past and future. I see that my specific challenge is finding the ideal today by simultaneously reaching both back and forward resulting in a perfect balance here and now.

My memories provide stability through the individual torrent of what has made me who I am. I draw on my life’s experiences, good and bad, that have shaped and molded my character. I reflect on words said or not said; accomplishments completed or left undone; thoughts shared or kept private. These events provide a sense of strength knowing that I have a choice today to repeat mistakes, or draw and learn from a precedent. Who I am is not left up to those who brush by me in an instant. Who I am is not even up to those who have left and imprint of courage, determination, or integrity upon my life. Who I am is completely and utterly up to me.

My tomorrows and my dreams provide a picture perfect ideal of who I can be. It is through my tomorrows that I am able to push through the tough seasons of today. It is through my tomorrows that I am not willing to settle for anything less than everything I can be today. My dreams define me in every way. My dreams identify my time, my focus, my relationships, my attitude, and my response to every experience. My very character is defined by my dreams, which are my ideas, desires, and potential.

While my yesterdays continue to accumulate, my dreams are persistently fine-tuned with every crossroad, every shudder, and every detour along the way. The way I see it, a dream is more than a heartbeat. A dream is the very essence of purpose in life. Without purpose, we are selfless. Without self, we are nothing.