Dreams and Thorns by Cindy Downes (July 24, 2026)
“Your dreams will come true in August.” Thus proclaimed the fortune cookie I opened today at my FLAMS group luncheon. The problem is that I don’t have dreams.
Perhaps life has robbed me of dreams or life challenges has taught me that dreams are fairy tales. I tend to take a more realistic view of life.
I’m an avid practitioner of the Stoic philosophy which goes along with our other writing prompt, “Accept that you can’t control everything; let go.”
I find that life is easier to manage when I discard ideas of dreams coming true and instead focused on accepting what life brings me and then making the best of it. To help me remember this, I hung four wall plaques in my apartment that contain the following words which I read almost daily:
1. Accept what is.
2. Let go of what was.
3. Have faith in what will be.
4. Believe in yourself.
These reminders keep me grounded when dreams crash and life exposes the thorns of daily living. Then I say to myself,
· “I can only control myself.”
· “I am not responsible for how others act or think.”
· “I am only responsible for how I respond to them.”
So, August . . .
No, I don’t have dreams for August. Instead, I choose to live each day as if it were my last. I’m going to enjoy the air I breathe, the people with whom I interact, and the activities which I pursue.
As the inevitable thorns reach out to prick me, I will continue to push through, carefully; and, come what may, exit on the other side, hopefully, mostly unscathed.
Do I have goals? Yes, of course I do. But goals to me aren’t dreams. Goals are based on what I believe about myself – what I can accomplish. Not some fantastical dream that is unrealistic.
So, the bottom line is this: I am looking forward to August and to every month after that, fortune cookie or not.
