We dream about getting our driver’s license, about graduating from high school, about getting married, about owning a boat, about having our own home, about a new truck to go along with that luxury car we dreamed of, about travelling to exotic places, about reaching financial security.
That’s not to mean that as we age, we stop dreaming, but the telltale sign of getting old is that we begin to focus more on the past than on the future. We have those wonderful memories, and, by God’s grace, we have only faint memories of the painful things of the past. They were “the good old days”, and we find pleasure in tapping into them again.
Contact with a long forgotten acquaintance is a thrill, even though we may not have been really good friends back then. But we share memories of what we experienced together.
Our dreams begin to be less important in our hierarchy of desires. We wonder why we really thought that owning an old hearse was such a cool idea, or why those clothes and hairstyles were really “neat.”
We are pleased that many of our dreams did not come true. We are now looking back with a new perspective, having learned from experience, the real value of things in this world.
No, we do not stop dreaming, it’s just that we gradually begin to focus more on the memories, and the pleasures they bring, and less on the future, and the dreams that may never be fulfilled.
This is not intended to be depressing. It’s just that we find our true pleasure in what we have experienced and not in the pleasure of anticipation. We’re not hanging up our running shoes, we just like the rocking chair more. 
Very well said Sam. I think as we age (and get a little wiser) we realize that everything here is temporary and we begin to look forward to that place where we won't "need" all those things that bring us pleasure here. We become more focused on heavenly things.
ReplyDeleteReally enjoy your blog. God bless you!