“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live”- J.K. Rowling.

When I was little, I dreamed of true loves and princess weddings. Ken and Barbie were the ideal idols to admire: a vision of love to attain. Naturally, Disney princes and princesses were my favorite.

But I ended up growing out of much of my girly childhood wishes. I started, at least I thought I did, to put away the unattainable facades running through my mind. I no longer begged my mom to buy the Disney princess costume gowns in Walmart, and I moved on to riding four-wheelers outside and playing with my dogs. I hung up my childish dreams for the time.

Eventually, the innocence of all life is stripped away. You realize that all and most love isn’t the Disney kind. Ken and Barbie don’t exist in the real world, and love, true once-in-a-lifetime love, it’s actually really hard to come by, rare even.

But, at some point, do we return to those dreams? Actually, do we realize they never really left? As I grew older, aging into a different mindset may have taken away the dreams of my childhood, but it didn’t banish them, it only transformed them into more mature expectations.

Dreams - whether they leave or not, whether they shape the way you view life - are not to be your concrete slab for daily living (unless you have a dream of becoming a doctor in which you should be aware that your choices affect your goal there). Dreams are sometimes unattainable however unique and out-there they are for each of us. My dream for me has always been to find my perfect fit, my personal Prince Charming. Your dream may involve traveling the world, living in the Alaskan wilderness, or starting a friendship with someone you've always admired.

I don't know what you dream about, but it won't matter at the end of your days when the dream possibly doesn't come true, and you didn't fully live each day aware of what you've already been given. It doesn’t do to focus so hard on them that you forget what’s write in front of you- a life to be lived no matter how boring or safe or normal it seems to be.

Over this summer, my life has been completely that- boring, safe, normal. None of the usual trips I go on like a week-long vacation or a couple mission trips panned out. Most of all, my dream still didn’t come true. I didn’t meet my Prince. I didn’t meet him at the time I personally thought would be perfect.

And you know what, I forgot to live for a minute. Thankfully though, it didn’t take me all summer to realize that. It only took a grocery shopping trip with my mother after a church league softball game and listening to Tim McGraw's Always Stay Humble and Kind on the radio to finally feel like summer and me again.

I learned that dreams are not for living. Living is…

The days when the gas tank on my car is half empty. It’s days that are unexpected and not planned, when your hair is unwashed, and you keep giggling no matter what. It’s the days when spilled paint makes for great stories and when life just can’t seem to get you down. It’s praising God that He still is giving you courage to have faith even when your dreams aren’t coming true and not letting them escape. Good times are working all day and then hanging out with friends all night. It’s when exhaustion means you’ve spent too much time laughing and staying up late over long talks. It’s taking unpaid work days and spending time with sisters by the ocean or riding with the sunroof open and hanging out the top. Living is a reminder of peace and freedom. It’s sitting back and drinking sweet tea in the swing on the front porch on a hot summer day. Good times, living, it isn’t a constant state of being, a feeling or an accomplished goal, it’s all nostalgia, random moments and experiences wrapped up in a memory left in the corners of your mind.

So J.K. Rowling is right, it doesn’t do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.