Childhood if you can remember was fun in its own way. I have a feeling that there is a factor that unifies and makes every child equal to the other regardless of location, sex, religion, education or economic status. That unifying ingredient is the freedom and ability to dream fantastic, mind-blowing dreams of their future. They have a way of gathering pictures of how they visualize their future and without fear or doubt they dream and create big mental pictures for themselves.
I am not sure if it has to do with their current socioeconomic status or their desire for something better than what they presently enjoy or lack. The child in the poorest of communities or born into financial lack; if you go closer to ask him/her to describe his/her desires and dreams for the future; will paint the most wonderful picture where there is no limitation or lack of any kind; a picture that depicts happiness, fulfillment and peace. Same goes for a child who is born into wealth; they all have beautiful no-limits kind of dreams. In the world of the child all things are possible, there is no impossibility.
The change begins to set in from age 8-10 years; they begin to argue among themselves how impossible some of their fantasies are. This goes on and on till he/she forgets or gives up on these dreams and picks up new and more limiting pictures based on various conditions. What happened, why have most people tagged their childhood dreams as being IMPOSSIBLE? What factor made us dream; not considering any obstacles? Most times we hide under the cover of being too young to understand reality; so we could dream the unattainable. “I was just a child; I did not understand the intricacies of life”.
I will like you to know that your childhood dreams can come true if only you still believe in yourself and are ready to commit your energies to achieve them. Who says you cannot be the President of your country even if you are from a minority tribe or group? Who says you cannot be the owner of various international businesses? Who has told you that your childhood dreams of being the UN Secretary General is impossible? And who in the world says you cannot be the most successful Hip Hop or Rock artiste ever?
You dreamed of inventing a car that can fly or a computer that you give instructions in your native language and it obeys; your dreams were cross-cutting. Dreams that fit into politics, others were scientific or technology driven. You had no limits, so you kept dreaming. Your dreams can come true if you rekindle that innocent person who was in you as a child; the one who saw no obstacles, just opportunities. The one who was ready to grab anything and take risk; the only difference now is that it has to be calculated risk. There, lays the problem- calculated risk taking.
One of the issues I have noticed is that we now have the sense and mental capacity to analyse things before we go for them; therefore most times in our analysis we lose sight of the beautiful mental pictures we had created and become overwhelmed by the obstacles surrounding our achieving that target. If only we could balance our childhood innocence and our adult/youthful analysis to a point where we do not give up on the possibility of attaining the great feats we imagined as children.
I used to tell my mum that I will be a very wealthy woman, that I will have a big farm, a leather-works factory, a fast food place and a hospital. My mum would laugh and say in our native language “dream on my child, the one who boasts, his/her God or Angel is also boasting”. That is just to describe how divergent and cross-cutting our childhood dreams could be. For some of us we might have shared with people who were close to us, but they discouraged us and told us to face reality.
I will like to encourage you to rekindle your dream life; your mental faculty that cooks up fantastic fantasies and turn them into realities. IMPOSSIBLE is not a good word for your mind and general well-being; POSSIBLE is a better word to fill your mind and thinking faculties. Let’s take out time to rejuvenate the power of our minds.
Do not let the present circumstance cause you to be defeated even before the battle. Do not let your current financial or educational status cause you to give up on your dreams; they are still potent and can come true if only you keep hope alive and work towards their fulfillment. Yes, you can have all you desired as a child. Your mental picture can become a reality.
