The Difference

Children need time to daydream. To put it mildly, children have far too much stress in their lives today. Being behind a desk for hours at a time, participating in sports, dance, music lessons, homework, chores, television, video games and the demands put upon them by their families can create a world where there is no time to dream. The expectations placed upon children by life and people can completely close off the channel of mental freedom where dreams are born.

As a small child, I knew the joy of dreams in abundance. Gradually as I became older and fully indoctrinated into my culture, my dreams became less important. I began to modify them to be more in keeping with what I thought people expected of me than what I honestly desired for myself. In recent years, however, I have found hidden in the shadowy recesses of my mind, a small packet of dreams which, though full of the happiest of good things, was sadly neglected in my adult life because of the demands placed upon me.

Dreaming is the act of creating your own future. It is where we exercise complete freedom and imagine life as we desire it to be. Whether it be tangible goods or intangible relationships, conditions or feelings, those dreams, in my opinion, represent our life-line to the future. When those dreams are absent or buried beneath a mountain of cares and responsibilities, our lives can feel like an unbearable burden. But what is it that allows us to not just dream, but to take the leap of faith and fulfill our dreams? Where do we get the permission to do such a thing in a world where people are often slaves both to their wages and to the expectations of others?

This is where children come in. When we are children, we don't have to be taught to dream and dream big. We do it automatically and without reserve. Children will unashamedly tell anyone what they want to be when they grow up and the only restriction on their dreams is their limited knowledge. As soon as they find out how to dream bigger, they do it. They can easily dream of flying like a bird, breathing water like a fish,running faster than the fastest car, traveling through time,inventing perpetual motion or walking on the moon. Then, all too quickly, the children grow up and are initiated into a dreary world of 'No Make-believe'. We insist that children put their eyes and feet on the real ground. We reign in their dreams like a wild horse being broken. Dreams are put away as childish prattle and the child becomes an adult. In order to dream, you must be like a child and allow yourself this privilege. It is your own permission that allows this to happen.

Albert Einstein said: “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.” When we fail to dream honestly, and not just within the confines of current social expectations, we lose the opportunity to create our best future. Children seem to do this instinctively; adults, rarely. The problem, I believe, lies in the absence of the priority given to dreams and dreaming. Most people put a high priority on personal cleanliness. Every day they shower, shave, wear clean clothes etc. But how much time is spent on creating their own personal 'better world' through imagining, dreaming and planning for it?

Cinderella had the right idea when she spent time dreaming, wishing and working toward the day when she herself would be a princess instead of a scullery maid. If she had spent all her time just working hard or had simply become embittered by the cruel treatment of those around her, she may have missed her chance to change her world. Like a child, she remembered to dream big.

Thomas Edison said that his inventions were one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Most of us just have the perspiration. Giving himself the gift of one percent of dreaming in his life made the difference between Edison becoming a world-class inventor or being an ordinary,hard-working man. In this writer's opinion, it's a difference worth at least one percent of my time. That's fifteen minutes a day for the hope of a better life. What a bargain!