When I was in my twenties, like many of us I think, I had a few very enlightning dreams. Dreams that tell you who you are, or who you’ll become. Although we will not always recognize them as such. The first thing you notice about such a dream, and what makes it different from other dreams, is that you remember them vividly immediately after waking up. As if they were made to be remembered. Mine, in my memory, have lasted a lifetime and for almost everything I did I can make a connection with these dreams. To give an idea, let me share one such dream in this article.

” I was overlooking a green pasture and slowly walking towards a formation of rocks. Then started a more sloping landscape and the terrain was getting more rough. One could imagine it to be the Highlands of Scotland. Around me there were little lambs running and playing in the grass. I cannot remember there being any adult animals present. Then a voice said, These Lambs will be eaten by the Mountain Goats. One of the lambs I happened to be very close to, I picked up and hid underneath the coat I was wearing. There were no other thoughts than the one compelling me to save that lamb. I turned around to walk back and take it with me. There I stood frozen to the ground, facing many fearsome looking mountain goats. They clearly knew what I was hiding underneath my coat. In the face of danger one thought entered my head. One thought that for the rest of my life would lead me through all of lifes joys and troubles. I knew that in order for the lamb to live and never to surrender it to the mountain goats, I would have to sacrifice myself.”

I woke up and at that same time I wondered if I would ever be in a position that would ask this sacrifice of me. I clearly know now, that it is the choice one makes every day, to preserve the innocence and purity or to give it up. To stand up for what one believes to be true and to defend that. It was a young man’s dream and with it ended my wonder years. It was my very own “catcher in the rye”.