I daydreamed the other day, and it was the most wonderful feeling ever.
I imagined I was lounging in a resort in the middle of a jungle under the night sky. I looked up and I could see a million stars shining. There was a drink in my hand, friends and family for company, and endless conversations that would carry me through the night.
This was something I visualized. It wasn’t real. But it gave me those few moments of bliss. While I longed for this moment to materialize (yes, we’re in the middle of a pandemic), I also got thinking about dreams.
As a kid, I always had these fancy ideas of what I wanted my life to look like.
As children, we’ve all dreamed. We’ve playacted. We didn’t think twice about nurturing those dreams. We didn’t care about what other people would think of our silly dreams. We didn’t worry about the obstacles we would have to face to make those dreams a reality. Instead, we let our imaginations run wild.
But, as adults, we’ve forgotten how to dream. We’ve become so jaded and caught up in the rat race of life that we don’t even have a few minutes in the day to fire our imagination.
But a question someone posed to me on a Whatsapp group triggered this post.
What’s a professional and personal dream you’ve been nurturing?
It seems like a straightforward question. But I realized it was so hard for me to come up with an answer. What’s my dream?
Then, it hit me. We’re often so scared to voice our dreams to ourselves that we bury them deep in our subconscious. We let them fade away. We let them die.
But no one said your dreams have to come true this very instant. They could come true 10 years from now — only if you’ve still kept those dreams alive. Nobody is judging you for your dreams or your imagination.
Write it down. Put it out there in the universe and who knows? One day you might be surprised. One day your dreams might come true only because you visualized them and kept them going.
Here are some of my dreams. I hope they inspire you to come up with yours:
I always want life to surprise me and give me myriad opportunities to learn, grow and have fun. Every day, every moment should be about living life to its fullest.
I want to travel to 30 more countries by 2030
I want my mother to accompany me on these travels and for her to be able to see more of the world — with me
I have a dream to own a lakeside home in a European country (OK, maybe a couple of homes)
I recently stumbled into the fascinating world of angel investments and dream to be an angel investor some day
Professionally, I dream to:
Be part of companies and projects where I can create wide, positive impact
Leave behind a strong legacy of courage and passion
Live in a world where I travel freely without worrying about visas and paperwork
Inspire more young people to follow their passions, to keep their desires alive and to change the world for the better
Own a business (who knows what it could be?)
Sure, some of these dreams might seem a little weird. But I don’t care. These ARE my dreams and I AM going to make them happen some day.
If you have the luxury to dream, don’t waste the opportunity. Dream. Because dreams keep the hope alive. They fuel you. They keep you going even when life gets hard.
I’m dreaming right now.
Are you?
Cheers, K
Photo Credit: Ryan Hutton on Unsplash
I hope that you enjoyed this post and are staying safe and healthy out there. Use the comments section below to share your thoughts. And don’t forget to subscribe. You can also find me on LinkedIn and Twitter, so you can share any thoughts or questions you may have about careers, personal growth, networking, travel and communities.
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I love that the dreams can be anything. Some specific and some not. But as long as we continue to dream, both clarity and completion can arrive at the right time :)
Loved this! Yes I plan to dream more. And like you said NOT be afraid. Sometimes, even the simplest dreams are daunting. Its the fear of not coming true or being shattered, that keeps us from looking forward to it.