Where would you like to be in five years?

    Recently in a job interview I was asked the question, "Where would you like to be in five years?"  I gave an answer that I thought they would like to hear.  It was somewhere along the lines of, "I see myself working for a company where I am necessary, in a position in which I am being creative and having an impact on the success of the company.  Titles are not as important to me as being valued and making a difference within the company." 
    But really, I had no clue.  I wasn't always this way.  For much of my life I could have answered that question quite frankly.   I was always a dreamer and I was never afraid to dream big.  The unfortunate thing about growing into adulthood is the more you grow the more you hear "no".  Now don't get me wrong, it's not the word so much, but it is what has happened to me after hearing it so often.  It caused me to keep readjusting my ideas of what I could really accomplish.  Could I really write a book?  Could I really own a publishing company?  If I never meet the right person, at the right time, in the right place will I be doomed to work at minimum wage?  Is it still true that people with degrees make more than those without a degree?
As children we are told to "follow our dreams", then when we become adults we are more often told to "be realistic" and "pay the bills".
     So, if i'm realistic in five years I will probably be working some job that helps me pay the bills and take care of my family.  If I'm allowed to dream still, then in five years I could be anywhere, doing anything.  I could be sitting in a plaza in Barcelona, Spain, sketching a picture as I take a break from teaching my English class at the university there.  Or I could be trekking through the Costa Rican jungle doing research for my new book, using the large advance I was given to cover my expenses.
     I mean really, in dreams the possibilities are endless and in five years...I just don't know.