Have you ever had a dream where you’re totally aware that you’re dreaming and can control events within the dream?

My ability to lucid dream has waned in recent years, but occasionally I can still tell myself during a dream “you’re dreaming”, and then control to some degree the direction I want the dream to take. Pretty cool, hey.

In dreams past I’ve jumped into the air and “flown” by peddling my legs. A few times I have soared like a bird. I’ve run for miles without getting puffed. I’ve piloted planes. I’ve been a spy in action-packed technicolor dreams complete with escape routes, plots to catch the bad-guy, and terrorist attacks. Funnily enough I’ve also had dreams where I’ve broken out singing a pitch-perfect song complete with accompanying music!

In real life I can’t sing, I despise running, I’m not a fan of heights, and I definitely would not take up spying as a career!

Dreams are a fascinating way that our brains sort through memories, and thoughts, and impressions, and blend them together into our own personal movies- full of action, constant scene changes, and in many of my dreams…total weirdness!

Imagine if real life could be controlled like a lucid dream? What would your “dream life” look like in reality?

Mine would be free of cancer, my husband and I would be travelling around Australia right now, the kids would all have their ideal job (well paid of course), and there’d be weddings and grand-babies and a co-vid free world where we could each travel freely without fear.

In the half-conscious state between sleeping and waking, as I try to grasp at quickly fading memories of any dreams, there comes the realisation that I am awake now, and reality is here.

Reality is we are still in a global pandemic. We are still cut-off from family inter-state due to travel restrictions. There are friends battling tough stuff right now. There is work to be done. I am still having chemotherapy. There are appointments to go to. Life is still complicated. And so before I even get out of bed, I have a choice.

Whatever I choose to focus on will become my reality

-note to self

I get to choose what kind of day I’m going to have. I can choose to focus on what I can be grateful for or what I’m currently missing out on. I can choose to focus on problems or possibilities. And on it goes.

It does not mean I deny the bigger reality, or give no thought to it. I’m not advocating toxic positivism. It means that despite it I can choose to live another reality.

Despite the bigger reality of cancer, covid, and a million other problems in the world, some closer to home than others, the reality I want to focus on, the reality I always come back to, is what I call my three essentials. God. Family. Health.

God. I make no secret of the fact I love Jesus and have been walking with Him for thirty plus years now. He is love. He is faithful. He is good. He is Healer. He is Saviour. He is justice. He is truth. He is wisdom. He is mercy. He is compassion. He doesn’t just have these attributes, He IS those attributes. He is the Way, the Truth, the Life. In Him I live and move and have my being. Without Him I would be lost and would cry out as the apostle Simon Peter did: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:68

Family. My husband and family are everything to me. I value them above anything else in this world. I am grateful that they are here, we are here, and together we have today. As long as we each have breath we are here for each other and love doing life together and we travel together each new mountain top or valley that comes along.

Health. Health of spirit, soul and body equates to abundant life. Sometimes we have to battle in one of these areas, but when all three are healthy it makes the ability to do ministry, to be spontaneous, to fulfill life goals, dreams, and calling so much easier. I desire to walk in divine healing and pursue to the best of my ability whatever God puts on my heart while pointing others to Him along the way.

Yes, the world consists of billions of realities. Sometimes it takes a forced “Pause” to evaluate which of those realities is the most essential to us personally. What is most essential to you? What is the reality you always come back to?

And then there are dreams. Yes, the sometimes weird fanciful ones which our brains conjure up in our sleep, but there are also dreams of the heart.

One of my dreams was to obtain a university degree. I didn’t achieve that until I was in my forties! It’s never too late to dream. I don’t have a bucket list, I have a dreams list. On it are some big things, and some small personal things that are just between me and God. Did you know that if you have a dream, it’s likely from God? That it’s part of your unique purpose to be fulfilled on this planet?

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.” Psalm 37:3-5 .

This isn’t talking about “He shall give you the desires of your heart” in a way that God is like some Santa in the sky who hands out things in answer to whatever we demand just like spoilt children! It’s talking about those desires of the heart such as….you always wanted to be a pilot? God probably put that desire there. You always wanted to adopt a child? God probably put that desire there. You feel drawn to visit the elderly? God probably put that desire there. What are the dreams that lay hidden in your heart?

It’s not dreams versus reality. We probably all know some people whose heads are so high in the clouds that their feet don’t touch the ground!

It’s living in reality and dreaming dreams. It’s knowing our essential reality and being aware of the desires of the heart. It’s dreaming of a better reality and then making choices that help move us in that direction.