Keeping The Dream Alive

Everyone has a dream.

Doesn't matter how old you are, you probably have a dream. It will come in the form of something you want to do in life which appears to be outside the realm of the possible. It is something you are striving for or running after. Martin Luther King (MLK for all of my U2 friends) had a dream. Let's face it - it was pretty big and appeared to be mad at the time, but that dream has come true. He might not have been alive to see it himself, but the dream he had came true.

I have a dream. My wife has a dream. My kids of dreams. My kids want to play ice hockey, one of them for a particular team. As a result, we are driving them around to try out for different teams. Ice hockey is not like your son or daughter trying out for a football team (with all due respect to the football parents out there). There are lots of them and they play almost anywhere.

Ice hockey is very different as there are not many ice rinks or teams in the UK. But that is OK. We are helping them pursue their dream. In the world we live in, how many kids get to dream and run after their dream? Not many. The world tells them not to dream because their dreams will never come true. But dreaming is fun. Dreaming teaches us to reach for something bigger than us. It calls us to strive for something that appears to be outside our boundaries. What right do I have to tell me kids their dream won't come true? I can only help them run after it.

Let me share my dream with you - to sing WITH OR WITHOUT YOU with U2 live on stage. "What on earth?!" I hear you say. I know, crazy isn't it. But I have carried it for 22 years and even though I perfectly straddle the middle-age of life, the dream is very much alive. On 14th August 09 I am going to be at Wembley Arena when they take the stage. I have standing tickets. The band have played the song on tour. Everything is lining up for my dream to come true. It is still alive and I am still running after it.

Maybe.... just maybe..... I will see my dream come true this summer as I witness my kids' dreams come true.