For this post I chose to expand upon the title of my blog. To dream is to live. What do I mean by that exactly?
 
Labeling myself a dreamer goes back about 10 years to when my boss informed me that he had chosen the song "Little Dreamer" to be the ringtone for when I called his phone. I found it to be a compliment while he found my dreamer-like mentality to be associated with a naivety that I would eventually outgrow. 
 
Of course fast-forward 10 years and I still proudly call myself a dreamer. And like the late John Lennon, I assume I am not the only one ;) 
 
What I have come to believe is that dreamers are often assumed to be young, uninformed, unrealistic, rebellious, and out-of-touch. The list goes on. What is often ignored, however, is that without dreamers we would likely live without the things we use daily like our automobiles, airplanes, lights, air conditioners! Again, the list goes on. What many fail to realize is that dreamers can come equipped with plans to actually bring those crazy dreams to fruition. And that is exactly what I plan to do as my title implies. My dream is different from a thought. It is not something I see when I am asleep but rather something I see during my waking hours. And it is something I live daily. 
 
When I envision my future and allow myself to dream, I set in place tangible plans that physically draw me closer to those dreams. By dreaming, I am living. Otherwise, I'd simply be asleep.
 
My dreams of living a life free of financial burdens, with no constraints on time, and blessing those around me is a dream I am actively moving towards. And that is very different from the idea that dreams are something to be imagined and not attained. 
 
Dreams do come true. And not just by wishing upon a star, but by creating a plan, setting deadlines, and physically moving towards them. Dreamers are doers. And we are risk takers. We are not sleeping while the rest of the world is hard at work. We continue working when the rest of the world is sleeping. 
 
Dreamers change the world.  

Have you ever found yourself feeling down and someone stopped to compliment you and changed your whole day? Or you may have been feeling great about yourself and that feeling increased significantly because someone told you, "That dress looks amazing!" Too often we underestimate the power of our words and use them instead to critique, offer unsolicited advice, or put even ourselves down. Day after day we deny ourselves the power to change another person's day.

The other day I was feeling extra critical about my body. I had not been working out as often as I would like to and had eaten more pizza than I should. I made my way into the gym for a quick workout and as I left, a coworker asked me, "How do you stay so fit?" I was honestly taken aback and could not help but smile. I tried to play cool and let her know that I try to work out and eat right, but she has no idea how she affected my whole day. In fact she changed my week! All of a sudden I viewed my body differently and felt proud. And so I am challenging myself and everyone I know to compliment another person at least once a day. It may feel uncomfortable (why is that???) but do it anyway. Because that 30 seconds of you feeling "weird" or "awkward" could be a day or a week of that person feeling "amazing!"

Let's stop using our words to put people down and instead build each other up. For some reason we often feel people are too confident in how they look. We deny them a compliment because we don't want it to go their head. Yet what we don't realize is that person likely lacks confidence. And to be honest, even if they don't and they truly feel they look amazing, great! Let them know they are right! How great is it that there are some people who know they are amazing? I wish I could be that confident!

If we want to feel good about ourselves, see the good in others. Let's start using the power we have to change this world for the better.

Imagine how different this world would be if the majority of us saw the best in ourselves!