DON'T STOP DREAMING- A CHATEAU IN FRANCE?

 

Paris, France, Spring 2011

Don't forget your dreams.

 Do not let them die under the weight of life.

 Keep the oil in its lamp burning for it's never too late, not until the tired heart stops palpitating. 

A couple of years ago, before the devastating 2020 pandemic, I used to dream of becoming an international best-selling author. I'm not there yet. I've only managed to write a couple of self-published books. But the dream must not perish. We soldier on.

 I also used to dream about owning a chateau in the South of France. Don't ask me, why France? I just have always loved France, perhaps, because I once loved a French man, who was really good to me. It's hard to forget a man if he's good to you.  Although he's passed on now. I still love France and many French things.

A few years ago, I would look in my mirror and say to myself, "Une jour, je vais acheter un château dans le sud de la France." (One day, I'm going to buy a chateau in the South of France)

Then the pandemic happened, and my priorities changed. Other things moved onto the front burner, and many others no longer mattered. At some point, I thought about going to provide eyecare to an underserved African country. I almost went to Namibia in 2021/2022. I also toyed with the idea of going to Malawi. I still think about it sometimes, but first, I have to take care of other businesses in the Americas. 

So, our dreams change as life happens. As we evolve with the passing of time. Priorities alternate, pushing for a sustainable life. Two decades ago, I used to dream of going to the United States and setting up an ultra-modern Eye clinic. That dream is now marinating at the back of my medulla oblongata. If I ever open a practice again. it will have to be a specialty group practice with other colleagues. Never going solo again!

Ring on the dreams, and keep hopes blazing, as I enter my second act, My dreams are more centered toward service to others, especially, as I have become a minimalist, and things that used to matter no longer do. I now want to use my skills where it's most needed, to serve.

Who knows? where our dreams will take us. Keep dreaming, to make the world a better place by being kind to one another. Maybe, one day, I might just buy that chateau in the South of France. Right now, my heart is open and big for service to our shared humanity.

Champ Elyseés, Paris

Posing with Winston Churchill's statue, Paris

Ready for a cruise on River Seine, Paris