Just for fun, no but seriously

Echoing on from lojo’s dream post, comes this GapingVoid installment. The message with the daily cartoon read: “So what is the Number One cause of people not following their dreams? Fear of failure.

Sure, failure can be tragic. But never taking a risk in the first place is even more tragic. Life is short; and never completely safe. You have been warned.”

Reading this and seeing the cartoon brought a smile that lojo and I are actually doing this – we are taking the risk, we have been reminded, and know of the shortness of life, having both had family losses in the recent past. We don’t fear failing – I don’t even think the topic has even crossed our minds our conversations. It’s more like, ok which idea do we pick? Fortunately, other dreamers have fallen into just the role we needed, each at the perfect time, and in doing so, we are inspired.

dream

If there is one thing every kid in the world has in common, that thing would be dreaming. But not only at night, when lights go off and eyes give way to a world of unconscious images. Children go beyond that: they are the ultimate experts on day dreaming; and dreaming BIG!

The best thing about being a child is that one’s dreams are respected. If a child tells you that he/she wants to be a president of  Mars when becoming a grown up, nobody would think that the little person has gone mental. Now try to do that after your 30’s. Not the same compassionate and loving look from your peers, I presume.

The irony in the whole dreaming business is that, apparently, we are only allowed to dream big when we are little. Imagination leaves us in a silent way as we grow up, and one day we wake up and forget that, once upon a time, the sofa was a pirate ship, the dog really understood your plans to take over the world, and you were about to become the coolest astronaut/basketball player ever.

Then, as adults, we are only allowed to “dream” according to benchmarks given by society, or advertising campaigns by default. We are so busy trying to achieve what is relevant to our environment that we forget about what we truly want. We don’t remember how to dream, how to create a life that belongs to us,  ignoring that child within.  I guess we are too busy for that…

Dream Big

The thing with dreams is that they are faithful to you. Even if you have ignored them for decades they’ll be there, awaiting for a chance to become true. They’ll knock while you sleep, when you see other people achieving incredible things, when you look at yourself with that rare “I can do” attitude… They are there, lethargic but alive, still believing in you more than you believed in them.

The secret resides on remembering how to dream big. Not easy in the beginning, but everyone should give it a try. Simply stop calling ideas “silly”, “impossible”, “crazy”, “unreasonable” or/and “risky” and start listening to those longed buried hopes. There is the possibility that those dreams are not stupid, or unattainable; maybe they just needed an opportunity to be modified to fit the grown ups world. That’s all.

To end, can’t forget that the greatest things of  this “real” world are actually made by those who follow their dreams. Don’t believe it? “I want to fly like a bird” “I want India to be independent” “I want women to have the right to vote” “I want to make buildings that look like nature”. Every song, car design, road…was born in a person’s imagination, so avoid underestimating its power.

Now it is the time to decide if we have what it takes to take that journey back, rescue our dreams, and put them to work… our future might not be in our past, but is the present decision that counts. Don’t waste it!