The Secret Life of Kids

Close your eyes, don't peep, and think back to when you were a kid. . . look at your own children. . . they all have one thing in common. They are dreamers!

When someone asks a child, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" The typical child can recite a laundry list of professions. "I wanna be a doctor and a rapper and a football player and an astronaunt, oh and I wanna be a famous singer."

What is so powerful about the answer is that in their heart of hearts, they truly believe it. They believe they can be whatever they want to be. It's only later, when the harsh realities of life catch up with them, when they cast aside the naiveness of youth, it's only then that doubt sets in.

I think that's why I simply adore children when they are between the ages of 5-10 years old. They say the darnest things, they have wonderful imaginations and they STILL are dreamers. They truly believe in dreaming big, reaching for the stars and the sky is the limit.

One of the great things about dreaming is that it is a powerful tool. Once you visualize a dream, work hard towards achieving it and believe in it. . . the sky really is the limit.

So, why at some point does this ability to dream AND believe vanish from our pysches? I really don't know. Most of the time, by the time children, our children are teenagers, they have placed limitations on themselves. They start to think, "Well, maybe I can't be an attorney or Mom and Dad just said I could be anything I set my mind to." What happens?

I can honestly say, as a child, I was one of the biggest dreamers you could ever imagine. I dreamed big dreams in living color projected like they were on a movie screen. These dreams traveled with me well into my twenties, but somewhere along the way, I lost my vision. I guess life was beating me down. I was picking up on all the wrongs in an unjust world. I lost my ability to imagine and create my life. Along the way, I forgot that I am the creator of my own existence.

It's years later and I never regained my ability to dream quite so clearly and vividly. However, I didn't lose all of it. Somehow, I retained some of those traits and I'm able to look beyond the tragedy that can exist in life and instead choose to see the beauty and wonder of it all. Life is so amazing, so short and so full of opportunities to leave your mark and make a difference.

I've had dreams of many things during my lifetime:
1. I dreamed of a career---I received it
2. I dreamed of falling in love---I got my wish
3. I dreamed of having two beautiful children, a boy and girl. Guess what? My dream was answered.
4. I dreamed of having positive, inspiring, support, and loving people in my life---check, I have them
5. I dreamed of seeing the beauty in each and every one of us---I try each and every day to seek that out
6. I dreamed of living my life like it's golden---that is my goal each day
7. I dreamed of being a writer and reaching people through my words---check, done, still working on it
8. I dreamed of being the best person I can be---again, I'm a work in progress
9. I dreamed of being a good wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend---I can only hope that I've acheived this
10. My dreams are endless. . .

I'm so grateful that I didn't totally lose my ability to find the child in me. . . to believe I can do any and everything I set my mind to!

So, the next time you ask yourself, "What am I going to be when I really grow up?" What will your answer be and will you truly believe it?