life and dreams and such.

Recently, the following questions have been thrown on my plate:

What is the American Dream and what does it mean to you?

My answer follows this quote by James Turslow Adams, who actually coined the term in his book, Epic of America(1931):

"that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position."

I believe in that one hundred percent and, to be honest, I didn't even know that Adams coined the term, not until I searched it to see the name of the book that he wrote it in. That is exactly what the american dream means to me, to be successful based off of happiness, not status or money, and to help other people while I'm at it. 

I want to be involved in a church and an elementary teacher when i grow up, but, my greatest dream is to be a mother. I want to be happy, I don't want a huge house and fancy cars. I want a family filled with love and friends who support and love one another, I don't want to be a CEO or to marry a doctor or professional athlete, I want to marry somebody who's as into family and God as I am, maybe even more so. 

I want to teach others the beauty of life and love, I want to spread happiness. I want to teach the world to let go of materialism and to realize that money truly does not buy happiness, it never will. I want to make an impact on the people around me, and reach out to those in need of a positive influence.  

My dreams are simple ones, and one may argue that I'm taking the easy way out, but I honestly don't believe so. Yeah, the jobs I've chosen don't require much schooling, and don't provide huge sums of money or status, but they are as challenging as any other. I want my life to be centered around family, which may be the hardest job of all. Being a mother, as easy as it may seem to the ones on the outside looking in, is hard. I don't have personal experience to back that claim up, but I have spend a giant chunk of my life babysitting, and that in itself is a challenge. Motherhood is a 24-hour job that doesn't receive a salary, one that you can't quit (no matter how hard you try), one that you can't ever completely take a vacation from, one that you cant get promoted in, but one that has rewards that last a lifetime, literally. 

I can't wait.