It was a loud penetrating noise that crossed the threshold of the world in which I found myself. It seemed like I resided in that world for eons but I had only been there for approximately five to six hours. Somewhere in my subconscious, the life which I lived had been enhanced. So I quickly eliminated the noise that had violated my space. For a moment, it seemed like I was being drawn back into that world of bliss, but regardless of how much I tried to return to the place where I had been disturbed by that deafening sound, I was incapable. We all have those dreams that we wish we could go back to and continue forever. Such dreams reveal an essential capacity of our existence. We were created to be dreamers.

Frustration often sets in like rigor mortis when a life is empty of dreams. The very moment we stop dreaming, we stop living. We often tell our children to dream big and that the sky is their limit. Somewhere while encouraging our sons and daughters, we forgot to encourage ourselves to keep dreaming. Our dreams are ageless. We do not have to be a certain age to dream about doing awesome things with our lives. In fact, the more we live, the more we should dream.

Notice, no one ever knows when they actually fall asleep. The only things we remember are waking up and sometimes our dreams. Have you ever wondered why we do not remember falling asleep? Could it be that it is necessary for us to get out of the way so our dreams can begin. Too often, we are the Freddie Cougars of our dreams; getting in the way causing our dreams to become nightmares which literally drains the life from us.

Of course, when we sleep the dreams we have about life seem far beyond our reach. I believe there is a reason for such grandiose dreams. Our dreams compel us to believe the impossibilities of life. Before 1969 it seemed ridiculous to think that man would one day walk on the moon. But we kept dreaming and now a trip to the moon is a common voyage for modern astronauts. Without dreams, we would not have a reason to reach. Dreams are necessary for our very existence. We cannot stop dreaming now because so many others are counting on us. When we dream, we are seeing ourselves like we were created to be and we were created to be great. I believe that we have found the cure to frustration, a life full of dreams. To dream is to live and to live is to dream. So put your alarm clock on snooze, now is the time to dream again.

Rep-elect Darrio Melton will represent Dallas County in the Alabama Legislature.