A Singaporean In Australia

Then I woke up. 

I dream a lot when I sleep, just about the same as anybody else. Remembering dreams though, are rare occurrences. Whenever I do, I often stay in bed for awhile to recall the better dreams for one last time; as I know these memories will be completely wiped out once I begin my daily activities as if these data are stored in a temporary section of my memory. The dreams in our sleep can be so real such that we can feel intricate physical and emotional details, such as an intensifying heat or fear. At times, I wonder if the volatile dream world is the real world we are living in. After humans managed to permanently wreck the world to a state it is unstable due after parallel worlds and time dimensions crossed paths, we created a more perpetual virtual world that we call reality today.

To me, even reality is virtual. One thing for sure, it is temporary. No one knows for sure what happens when we die. There may be another journey to travel in another elemental plane. There may be the heaven and hell for as final home like what some believe. Or we simply disappear into nothingness, nobody knows. One thing I know for sure, we leave our current reality, in our previous physical state at least. That is an ending, regardless of what happens next. There has been shared wisdom going on from people at their death beds. They have been asked about their regrets in life and what would they do differently if they have the chance to do it all over again. Then someone writes the moral of the story and urge everyone to live their lives to their fullest. It's a beautiful story, only that some do not realise we don't lose everything in death. We are already losing part of our realities as we live. Siao Wei is well and living in some corner of Singapore but she is no longer part of my reality, to illustrate. With limited life force, individuals often pursue dreams.

So what is this about our so call real dreams? Dreams we make in the day. Our aspirations and self actualisation goals? There is a reason why the majority of people do not fulfill their dreams or even on a smaller scale, a New Year resolution. Because these dreams are made of weak. If we consider how real the dreams in our sleep can feel, our day dream pales in comparison naturally lie further away from reality.

"If I am 20 years younger, I would do this." This statement was repeated numerous times by Josephine last weekend. It kept ringing through my head for the entire week like a faulty smoke alarm. She was referring to establishing the farm house. I found it a bit odd because since Albert and the Liews were university mates, they should be around the same age. Why would Albert, then, have the energy to do that? After waking from the dream this morning, I found my answer. This isn't anything new. People have been harping the same old thing year in year out. There is only one formula with no alternative. A dream is only a blueprint. It will always remain so no matter how much or hard we keep dreaming. A dream is as dead as a doorknob with no vitality. To bridge a dream to reality, there must be a detailed plan that must be followed on day by day basis. Only by doing so, a dream become an intent. What Tucky told me last year was spot on. Dreams will never become reality and I agree with him today. Only an intent has a chance of getting us there but we need a plan. A plan defines the difference between waiting and procrastinating. Procrastination has no time limit but time allocated for waiting is fixed. While waiting there are always other overlapping tasks to perform.. It's time to draw these up. 

Oh, I know someone who loves to plan. But I'll need to find out if she shares the dream.