Living Your Dreams - A Trilogy

 Part Two - Salzburg, Austria

Dream (n) [thank you Dictionary.com] -

• a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep.
• the sleeping state in which this occurs.
• an object seen in a dream.
• an involuntary vision occurring to a person when awake.
• a vision voluntarily indulged in while awake; daydream;  reverie.
• an aspiration; goal; aim: A trip to Europe is his dream.
• a wild or vain fancy.
• something of an unreal beauty, charm, or excellence.

Why do dreams fail? As I stated previously, there are a number of answers to this question. In today's world, I have found a great number of people are "career-focused." I find this to be an absolutely horrible phrase as for many people it means finding a job that earns a considerable amount of money. What happens then? You either get the job you want or not, you still end up making money even if it's not the amount you wished, then eventually you will retire and inevitably leave your money (if you have any) and physical belongings behind. Not to mention the bills you have to pay once you have your career... it's all just terrible.

I am in no way saying you should delay or remove responsibility in order to become selfish and obtain your own personal goals. However, I find that most people are either thinking too much or not enough or both, in many cases. This is a possible reason as to why a dream could fail. There are other reasons too, such as, lack of money, lack of time, having children, having a job, going to school... and many more. But if we're being realistic here, which I am, those are all excuses. Plenty of people have gone out in search of their dreams leaving behind jobs, education, friends, and family, and have made themselves better people as a result. I am also not saying you should leave behind everything in pursuit of your dream. The word to keep in mind is balance.

Balance (n) [thanks again to Dictionary.com] -

• mental steadiness or emotional stability; habit of calm behavior, judgment, etc. 

Everyone has things they want and desire. I am a realist and recognize that we can't always have what we want. This does not mean that we shouldn't dream though. Sometimes in pursuit of our dreams we find something even better. There is no way we has a human species could ever even come close to knowing everything. So how do we know until we try? The only rule I believe should apply to dreaming is to keep it to something physically possible and legal. Having the dream to someday fly to the moon is good but having the dream to literally capture a star while you're up there isn't exactly possible. Make is something specific, too. "I want to fly." Not good. "I want to fly to Thailand." Slightly better. "I want to fly to Thailand to learn more about their culture and language." Now there's a dream.

The difficult part of having dreams is being able to focus on your inner-most person. Who are you really? What do you want more than anything? We often dismiss these questions because they're uncomfortable and could possibly make us look silly or we automatically assume it's not possible. When we were all children the question was "what do you want to be when you grow up?" I think this is a really awful question to ask children. Children are just beginning to live life, so how would they know what they want to do in 20 years? Adulthood is where you begin to see possibilities. This doesn't mean you can't have dreams as a child though. Sometimes dreams are more clearly defined as a child.  Was there anything you wanted as a child to do more than anything but never got the chance? (Something interesting to note is if you were told you couldn't do it as a child, it'll make you think twice about doing it as an adult.) If as a child you wanted to go to Disney World more than anything, why not go as an adult? What's wrong with that? For those of you saying: but I have health problems... I don't have the money... I can't take time off from work... stop. None of these are real reasons. Go to Disney World. Have fun as an adult. ESPECIALLY if you couldn't have fun as a child. Have you ever wanted to learn a new language? Take a class! Dreams don't have to involve extreme measures or traveling either. I want to go bungee jumping someday, but that's not a dream. A dream is something that you explore; that you feel; that you are a part of and it's a part of you. It's okay if you say: I've always wanted to be a famous chef. But realize this: the dream you have is being a chef, not being famous. Take cooking classes! Start a mini restaurant! Work in a restaurant! It doesn't matter if you're 16 or 61 or any other age.

There is a downside like with everything else: you do have to continue to assume responsibility. If you do have young children, you do have to care for them still. But there is no reason to not continue to have dreams and try to pursue them on a smaller scale. Think of ways to accomplish your dream logically. There are ways. If you truly want your dream to come true, then you will find a way. Don't give up.

What should you take away from all of this? Just know that your dream should be logical and precise, that you should pursue your dream regardless of age, health, financial status, or what other people think, and that it should be a part of who you are as a person. A dream defines the core of who you are. A dream also doesn't have to end. You can build upon and expand your dream as long as you like. Think big!

This takes me to Salzburg, Austria. Many of you know that this is where "The Sound of Music" was filmed, and many of you may know that it is where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born. "The Sound of Music" is a classic representation of how to follow your dreams and I will admit it was a large portion of the reason why I went there. I felt as though I was going not only for me but for my mother and grandmother, as they both love the movie as well. It was a fairly quick, 2-hour train ride to Austria, and when I got there it was like a whole other world. Even though they speak German there, it was almost like a different dialect. (My understanding of German is actually getting quite good. My speaking is slower to improve, especially since I don't have the need to speak it as often.)

Words can not express what it was like for me to visit a city I only imagined going to. Therefore, I have entered lots of pictures for you to have a taste of my excitement.

By the way, I apologize for the delay in Part Two. I was very tired last night.

Enjoy the pictures and see you tomorrow!

They had a Sound of Music tour bus! I could have taken a tour, it wasn't very expensive (15 Euros), but then I would have run out of time to see other things.

Mirabell Gardens. This is where they filmed part of "Do-Re-Mi."

Any fan of the movie will know this scene of "Do-Re-Mi!"

Pretty arch in Mirabell Gardens.

Mozart's Residence. I couldn't take pictures of the inside, but it was very informative and I learned a lot about Mozart's family and history.

Salzach River in Austria.

Mozart's Birthplace. Honestly, after learning about the Mozarts, they were a pretty typical middle class family; they did typical middle class things, they just had an extremely musically talented member of the family.

Residenzplatz fountain where Julie Andrews sings "I Have Confidence in Me." I was so excited to see it!

Mozart statue.

Recognize this church? It wasn't very well lit. But this is the church where the nuns sang their song about Maria. This is called, by the way, "Stift Nornberg."

Austrian Alps from the viewpoint of the church.

Possibly the most famous icon of the movie, the "Sound of Music Pavilion" as it's actually named, is the location where "I am 16 Going On 17" is sung as well as where "An Ordinary Couple" (where Maria and Capt. Von Trapp sing their love song together). I literally walked an hour and a half one way to see this.

Hohensalzburg Fortresss. I'm sorry about the angle of the picture. I was walking.

Pferdeschwemme or "Swimming Horses."

I had such a marvelous time in Salzburg, so marvelous that I might even consider going back!

"I have confidence in sunshine!"