My daughter has her future all mapped out at 7. She is a planner. She is going to marry her best friend and invent a time machine.

“But I need to finish school because there is a lot I need to know about building a time machine.”

Right about now, the future starts to knock on the door. We are coming up to the new year, and in between the wrapping and the mailing of the cards I think about what I’d like to have happen in my new year.

Goals. Resolutions. Dreams. Wishes.

I can often imagine a goal.

YES.

THAT.

And it’s so clear to me that I can almost reach out and touch it. Like the story of the spoiled child who wishes for the moon.

It’s right THERE.

No. It’s not. As clear as my vision of the desired goal is, it’s not here yet.

There are a lot of steps to go through. Funny how those steps do not seem as clear and present as my vision of the goal.

There are a lot of steps.

I like how Veronica is aware that her goal has steps. I like that she is completely confident that the steps to arrive at her goal of inventing a time machine are simply waiting to be taken.

Her definition of the steps is a good one too: learn more things.

I probably need to learn more things to pull down the moon too. It may be easier than I thought. And in learning and trying, I may discover the right sort of moon-type object I was really trying to get.

But I won’t know if I don’t try and learn.