Someday Isle

Someday Isle is a place I learned about at the Little Swan Lake Winery several months back from a songwriter and author named Douglas Wood.

Although they didn't realized it yet, nearly everyone in Doug's cozy audience soon learned they'd spent some time at Someday Isle.

It's an interesting place - or more like a state of mind. See if this sounds familiar: Someday I'll take a trip. Someday I'll pay the bills. Someday I'll write a book.

Someday Isle is that mental place where you dream about things to be accomplished some day.

It's a comfortable place of dreams but no action. Its a place where risk doesn't exist, so failure is not possible. It's a place of someday, but not today.

I suppose there are a lot of things that keep us on Someday Isle - lack of resources, shortage of enthusiasm, time constraints, commitments, fear.

I've visited Someday Isle briefly throughout the years, but it hasn't been my style to stay long. My someday I'll statements seldom run longer than six months. Someday 'Ill be editor of a newspaper. Someday I'll buy a house. Someday I'll learn to sail. I've turned them into goals and found success.

Throughout the years, I've read my share of books and articles about goal setting. Of course, it takes a plan to accomplish a goal, but first it takes a commitment.

My success with getting off "Someday Isle" has come when my "someday I'll" statements turn into "This summer, I'll..." or "Next week, I'll..."

I think the biggest step to getting off Someday Isle is to redefine the dreams as goals.

But every once in a while, I think we all find ourselves stuck on that isle, awaiting life's changes.

I was talking with a new acquaintance the other day about life's possibilities. And to my own surprise, I found myself uttering a new someday Ill statement. She asked is that a goal or a dream?

Hmmm... I thought, It's a dream. I said. If it were a goal, I'd already be on my way.

Anitra Wolf is the managing editor for the Dickinson County News. She may be reached at awolf@dickinsoncountynews.com.