Why We Need To Stop Telling People To Have Realistic Dreams
I was a sophomore in high school when I had to take a career aptitude test. I was told that this test would determine what kind of career field I would excel in. It asked me about my likes and interests, gave me a few scenarios to choose from, and then it calculated where my strengths and passions would lead me. After my score was calculated, I had a meeting with my teacher to review the results. The ‘arts’ section was off the charts. It was clear that I needed a career in writing, acting, or public speaking. My creativity and love for words were evident. The feeling of stringing the perfect sentence together made me feel like I was living up to my full potential. To me, my results were spot on but to my teacher, they were not. To her, I needed to focus on having ‘realistic dreams.’
People Won’t Understand
My teacher sighed and told me that this was not a realistic career goal and that I needed to find something else. As a 15-year-old I remember thinking my teacher was in the wrong. Who was she to say I couldn’t be a writer, or an actress, or a public speaker? However, being the perfect 4.0 GPA student that I was, I didn’t argue with my teacher. I agreed that the career I was destined for was not realistic. Basically, it wasn’t a guaranteed paycheck and that was the most important thing in life. Dreams are nice, but realistic dreams are better.
I ended up deciding that I would be a lawyer that day. The pay seemed good, and I would still get to be somewhat creative in my arguing tactics. It was not the career I wanted to research, but that didn’t matter. The assignment was supposed to be about finding a job that would be perfect for me. And, I did. It just so happens that we live in a society where dream jobs are not viewed as a reality.
Society Will Not Be On Your Side
My experience in this high school English class was annoying. But, I was smart enough to know that my teacher was wrong. It may have taken me a few years to fully realize it, but eventually, I was not able to bring myself to do anything other than my dream job. It’s like I found what I was born to do. How could I just walk away from that because it was an unrealistic dream? And that is the major problem with teachers, parents, friends, family, and our society as a whole. We are trained to believe that our dreams need to be realistic. We allow fear and self-doubt to control our every decision. Instead of encouraging each other to live the life we truly want to live, we give realistic advice that supports a safe life. However, a safe life is often a boring and unfulfilled life.
Realistic Dreams Are Limiting
Realistic dreams are just another way of saying play it safe. It tells you not to take chances or risks to get what you truly want in life. Realistic dreams are limiting because you are only allowed to set achievable goals. You are not allowed to reach for the stars. You are not allowed to discover your full potential. We as a society need to stop encouraging people, and especially kids, to have realistic goals.
We should be encouraging everyone to have monumental goals. Even if they are not fully reached, there is a good chance more will be accomplished than if a simple goal was set. Unrealistic dreams are where the magic happens. That is where people feel inspired and motivated. If you can dream it, you can do it. If we stopped acting like ‘unrealistic dreams’ were impossible to achieve, there would probably be a lot of people living happier lives today.