Childhood Dreams

Success in all forms is ultimately bound to our own personal development, and our development includes having a fulfilling existence. It is important, therefore, to cultivate our own fulfillment; both for its own sake, and for the ripple effect it has on the rest of our life. One of the most overlooked resources for ideas about what could bring us fulfillment is to reminisce our childhood, looking for clues of forgotten dreams and repressed interests. Even if you are not particularly nostalgic about your childhood, chances are you have unfulfilled childhood dreams that are worth exploring.

We know that the world doesn’t always make it easy to fulfill dreams. Take for example the dream of being a professional athlete. Fulfilling this dream depends on many things: parental support, financial resources, mental and emotional toughness, intelligence, build, and a genetic predisposition to be athletically inclined. Lots of variable, lots of potential to not fulfill the dream.

We learn, through the school of hard knocks, that many dreams will not come true. Few of us will be professional athletes, movie stars, or Pulitzer Prize winning authors. Life’s like that. But by exploring our past dreams and interests, we can gain clues into what we let go of for the sake of "practicality", and look for new ways of incorporating the lost dream into our lives. Rekindling the love of something long forgotten is the most energizing, exciting, rewarding, and sometimes thrilling thing imaginable. As we reclaim these passions, we reclaim lost aspects of ourselves and this allows us to become more complete, resilient, and capable.

Step One: Discovery
Discovery can take many forms. The point is to simply look for clues about what you really longed for in your youth. Talk to family members who are still living, pour through photo albums, review childhood journals (if you have them) and storage containers of old memorabilia. Look for clues about what activities you enjoyed, what things you collected, who you aspired to be. For my good friend, it was a love of horses. She lost her first horse at 16 years of age, and never rode again. She is now in her mid thirties.

Step Two: Brainstorm
For many people, the actual dream would not be practical to fulfill as an adult. You won't become a movie star, perhaps you really cannot afford to buy a horse, and you can’t be a professional soccer player. So what can you do? Play soccer on a league. Audition for a community theater production. My horse-loving friend joined a local horse club. While she cannot afford her own horse, she did find a half a dozen people who invited her to ride their own horses. She has received multiple offers to borrow horses for weekend trail trips, and open invitations to ride, groom, and take care of stables full of horses whenever she wants. I’ve never heard her sound so fulfilled!

Step Three: Do it!
Finally, make space for the new activity. It is hard to make time for the simple things like eating and sleeping. It can be a challenge to fit one more thing into the already crammed routine. Make a list of the things you are willing to say “no” to so that you have time for the new activity. There will only ever be 24 hours in the day. What can you not do so that you can make time for your passion?