WRITE DOWN 100 DREAMS

by Bo Sanchez

Taken from You Have The Power To Create Love

There are a few things in life that make me go berserk. One of them is when someone says, “I’m bored.” I mean, how can anyone be bored in a world so beautiful and full and exciting as this planet we’re living in?

Well one day, a fifteen-year-old friend with aluminum fingernails and 12-inch clogs told me, “I’m bored.” Instead of bouncing up and down shrieking my head off, I decided to calmly ask, “Why?”

“Because my cell phone’s busted and I can’t text anyone!”

Ooooooh. Armageddon can break loose, the ozone layer can disappear, and an asteroid can destroy half the planet-but these disasters cannot compare to the calamity of a teener without her cell-phone.

“Here’s a piece of paper.” (I tore one from my diary.) “Write down 100 dreams you want to do before you die.”

Her eyes bulged. “One hundred? I-I never though of…” After thinking for a while, she sheepishly said, “Well, I wanted to buy a cute avocado-green Benetton shirt I saw yesterday in the mall. Is that considered a dream?”

“I’ll let that pass. Write that down number 99 or 100. Anything more exciting?”

“Uh…I once thought of becoming an author of a novel one day. But nah…” she brushed off the idea with a wave of her hand.

“Write that down,” I commanded, “I will become a terrific novelist.”

As she scribbled the line she asked, “Should I include the word terrific?”

“Put that down, girl!” I almost shouted. “What else?”

“I sometimes imagine myself starting my own shop. It will sell trinkets that girls like me love to buy. But it’s too far-fetched…”

“Fabulous! Write that down!”

She went on. “And one day, I hope to give a million pesos to a Home for the Aged.” Soon she didn’t need any more coaxing. She was like a runaway train, her eyes on fire. Learn the violin. Travel to Paris and Beijing. Try skydiving once. Become a gourmet cook. Get married and have three kids.

When she finished dream number 100 (the cute avocado-green T-shirt was somehow forgotten), I said, “Think go small things you can do NOW that will bring you closer to the fulfillment of your dreams. Start with the novelist dream…”

“Well, I could start reading novels. I’ll learn the craft.”

“Fantastic! And how about the “trinkets shop” idea?”

“Perhaps I could learn more about bracelets and nail polish and hair stuff…”

I suggested, “You could also work in any store during the summer or on weekends, even if they don’t pay you a cent. Learn how it works, from top to bottom!”

“This is exciting!” she shrieked.

“And you say you want to give one million pesos to Home for the Aged?”

“Don’t tell me, Bo. I could visit them now! Maybe monthly! In that way, I’ll never forget my promise! Gosh, I’ve got a million things to do! Got to go! She bid me farewell and off set went, the girl with the aluminum fingernails and 12-ince clogs.

Hmm. That was strange.

I thought I just saw a young girl without her cell phone.

Happy.

I must be seeing things.

P.S. Write down your 100 dreams. It may just do strange things to you as well.