What do our dreams and aspirations have to do with experiencing the Resurrection of Christ on a daily basis?

A simple answer to this question is that it depends on the content of your dreams and aspirations. If you hope for the things of God then you are on the right track to experiencing real life with Christ on a daily basis. If you desire selfish or worldly things then you can hinder your ability to walking in the resurrection and newness of life. One of the struggles that Christians in America face to determining the content of our dreams is the constant thrust of the American Dream mentality. What is the content of the American Dream? Originally, the American dream was to provide hope for people to prosper equally despite there race or social status. This in itself is a good thing. Over the years this basic belief as evolved into a picture of married couple with kids and a house with hopes of being financially stable enough to retire from work at a reasonable age. All of these things seem ok to pursue, but are they really? What if God's will for you does not include you being married, having children, or owning a home? Is retirement a Biblical principle? Another part of this mentality that is popular in America is that if you believe in yourself enough or work hard enough that you can be anything that you want to be when you grow up. Is this true? Is this a biblical principle? Much of the content of the American Dream is in conflict to what the Bible teaches about what we are to put our hope in. Psalm 37:4 says... Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. This verse does not say that God will give you what you desire. It says that God will give you what you desire if you desire God. It does not say that if you desire and follow God then you automatically get the American Dream fulfilled in your life. Instead, a person who desires God will get God and the blessings of God. What are the blessing of God? Psalm 1:1-3 says... Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. This passage gives more insight on what the blessing of God are. Having the Bible as a source for how to live is a blessing of God. Another blessing of God is found in Psalm 16:5-6 that says... LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. This psalm unfolds that another blessing of God is an eternal inheritance of being with God forever. Not a monetary fund that could run out or a retirement stage of life that ends in death, but an inheritance that lasts forever. So what should the content of our dreams be if we want to experience the resurrection on a daily basis? Seek God, His Bible, and the hope of seeing God face to face. Surely that is enough to pursue. Recently, in the fall out of the great recession on the economy there has been much written and debated about how the American Dream is dying. It may sound strange but if you are a Christian that may be a good thing. If the American dreams dies that is one less thing that Christians have to die to in order to keep their focus on Christ alone. One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Psalm 27:4,13