Contributed by Twila Palmatier
This was a difficult subject for me. I thought about it a lot, jotted down many notes and threw them away.
Do you remember how you felt when you were a kid and the teacher would ask you to read your paper aloud to the class? I was always so self-conscious and scared of what everyone would think. I feel that same way now. I will however, give it a try.
When I got ready to write, I decided I'd better find out the correct definition of each word - dream, wish and expectation. I consulted my little yellow dictionary, Webster's and of course, Google. This is what I came up with:
Dream: A dream is something you want to happen, that could possibly happen. Synonyms are goal and imagination.
Wish: A wish is something you want that can't or most likely will not be attained. Yearning and desire are good synonyms for the word wish.
Expectation: An expectation is a belief you have that something is going to happen. I believe the best synonym for expectation is hope.
Now I'm going to share a simple dream, wish and expectation of mine as examples of each word. These examples I like to call "shareable" because they're kind of frivolous and so I don't mind sharing them.
A shareable dream of mine is that this year I will complete the two unfinished quilts I have had stuck away in my closet for several years now. You never know, it's a dream so it could happen!
A shareable wish of mine for 2017, is probably a wish all of us have at the assisted living community where my husband and I live. The wish I think we share is that our rents will be lowered at least 50% this year, without any change in the benefits we enjoy. Now remember, a wish is something that is not attainable. A good synonym for wish is desire.
My shareable expectation for this year is that my two stateside grandkids will return to Alaska to live. This is my expectation because I believe it will happen. The synonym for expectation is hope.
So my friends, those are a dream, wish and expectation I feel free to share. I looked at the list I have of all my dreams, my wishes and my expectations and saw that most of them are private. They are hidden away in my head and heart, and it feels wrong to open that part of me for inspection. I want to keep them tucked away where they are, so I guess I'm asking you to be content knowing - I dream of finishing my quilts this year, so I can tuck in my two grandkids when they come to spend the night with me in our now affordable home.
To all of you here at our assisted living community writing group, I hope all of your dreams, your wishes and your expectations are fulfilled in 2017.
