Do you have a dream? What and Why? What are you willing to do to get it?
My dream for about the past 8 months has been to get myself into great shape so I can take triathlon training in 2014 and be able to enter a few amateur tri's by this time next year.
The why? To me, it seems to be one pinnacle of fitness, physical and mental. It is the opposite of weak. I was weak last year, with disastrous results. Never again.
Me, as I discussed in another thread, working out in a serious way, a professionally designed and supervised program. Cycling is easy, I'm great at that. Running, well, I hadn't run in 20 years almost, and I was never that serious about it back then. So out of shape a year ago walking was a challenge at first. Running is picking up serious steam now.
Which brings us to swimming. Signed up for the lessons 2 months ago. Had never swam, never been in a pool, had a near drowning incident as a young kid. Terrified of water. Faced my fears, stared it down, did 5 laps this morning, very poorly. But it is amazing progress for me.
As I said in another thread, talked to the tri coach, he says do what I'm doing, and I will be totally ready come 2014.
What is your dream?
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You have more than dreams, you have GOALS. 
I have "dream"-dreams.... you know, the kind that will probably never come true. Going to Paris, buying a condo at the beach, dancing at my granddaughter's wedding. I am getting near retirement and I have make some decisions about how I want to live the rest of my life.
I know I have the ability, but lack the inspiration. I admire those who can devote themselves entirely to their talent. I just don't have that work-ethic, or passion, or whatever it takes.
Congratulations on your successes, though. That has to give you that little "push" to keep at it.
I love the challenge of the blank computer screen when the words are forming inside my head! And the real satisfaction that arrives when I've read them before a crowd who enjoyed hearing me.
Good luck with your painting!
I've raised her since she was 18 months old; she is very athletic, high energy, smart, sensitive and bit reactive, but has demonstrated all the right moves (along with quite a few scary "airs above the ground"
in her pasture play. My original dream was to train a hanoverian mare, but fate and money (of lack of) sidetracked that dream until after I win the lottery.
To that end, after my hi-tech marcom career crashed in 2002, I bought a minifarm in Maine, built a barn (learned to use power tools in the process) and fenced the pasture (pro-installed on roadside, learned to use t-stake pounder on inside), brought my elderly gelding home, and eventually rescued a small breeder by buying Dahli. All of these stages have excrutiatingly long and agonizing stories attached.
Anywho, after many delays, and endless ground training, I started Dahli under saddle last summer and early fall. After 10 weeks of not putting one hoof out of place, she turned rodeo bronc. Aaack. She is very athletic. This summer she is back under saddle and repeating last summer's work, plus moving ahead slowly. Weather, work schedule and fatigue are constant battles.
Every day I wake up exhausted, a bit achey, and determined to work with her in whatever way possible. Today, I am using up my sick day and playing hookey from work to keep her somewhat on track and schedule. We are working on walk/trot/walk transitions and sitting trot, turn on forehand through the walk, and leg yield at walk and trot. As soon as the footing permits, we'll re-introduce canter. I also need to start working her on "rubber banding" (shortened working trot to lengthened working trot back to shortened working trot, to introduce the concept of collection).
