My younger brother, Ethan, recently turned 10 years old. I can remember when he was little and someone would say, "Ethan, what do you want to be when you grow up buddy?" My brother's responses would usually be something along the lines of Superman, Batman, Spiderman or the ever so cool astronaut. When I asked him the other day what he wanted to be I received very different responses. Ethan told me that he would enjoy being things like an actor, a lawyer, a talk show host or an architect. When I asked why he no longer wanted to be a superhero, he responded by telling me that that was a "crazy idea", and that he has matured since he was little. He's pretty smart for his age I might add. The point of this is that our dreams can and do change quite often, and that's fine. I think it's a good thing actually. As we grow, we all want and strive for different goals, achievements and dreams. These are probably very different from the dreams we had when we were five years old. I find very often that people are almost afraid of altering a dream, perhaps because they feel like they're giving up on something. I have very recently decided that my lifelong dream of going to an Ivy League school is not necessarily something that I want anymore for multiple reasons. Dreams are fluid, and we have to allow them to be. For example, I've been told since I was about 6 years old that I should be a lawyer. All throughout elementary and most of middle school, I was sure that I would be a lawyer and was doing everything I could to get myself on the path of success. However, as I was entering high school, I thought more about my interests and passions. This led me to discover that I really wanted to be a doctor, not a lawyer. Now, one of my biggest dreams is to be a heart transplant surgeon and save lives. This brings me to my next point: following your dreams when choosing a career. I don't know about you, but I don't want to wake up every single morning in the future dreading going to work. That's why it is so important to follow your dreams when choosing what you want to do for a large majority of your life. While it's important to think about things such as salary, hours and benefits when choosing a career path, I think that doing something you love is equally as important. I hear people all the time saying, "I wouldn't do that, they don't make enough money." It almost saddens me to hear this, because I know that someone is giving up on a dream that they could love. I recently found an interesting article describing the most common dream jobs and what they actually pay. We each get one life to live the way that we want to. Why should we not be that astronaut who discovers aliens? Or a writer who sells millions of books? Or a veterinarian who saves animals? The answer is...you SHOULD. With hard work and dedication I truly believe that anything is possible. My mom is still constantly telling me that I should be a lawyer, but she says it with the knowledge and hope that I will do whatever makes me happiest in the end. A paycheck is a piece of paper. Being happy in life is priceless.
Here is a link to the article I was discussing.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/12/14/what-common-dream-jobs-actually-pay/
Childhood dream# 2: Having the ability to read minds.
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