We are a generation of dreamers. We imagine the possibilities that lie before us and we venture through them. We wander and we learn and the options on our horizons only grow. We take our time getting to where we are aiming to go, or get so lost in the detour that we never get there.
We dream so big that the falls are hard. Nevertheless, we get back up and do it again.
People look at us and they wonder why we don’t learn from our mistakes. They wonder when we are going to become realistic or practical instead of following the tugs that pull on our heartstrings. We keep seeking wisdom even when we have all the knowledge required for one path, and that doesn’t seem to make sense to them.
I get it; I mean at what point does education become overkill? Is travel a luxury that we can’t afford? Is wanting more preventing us from having what is right in front of us? What practical use does what you’re currently doing have for your life? These are all questions I have heard and considered in my life.
My answer to these people is this: there will never be a day when I feel I have learned all there is to know about life. There will never come a moment when I choose to stop dreaming, because that means that I will have given up on possibility. Lastly, I will never settle for surviving when I have the choice of living.
The second you let someone crush your imagination, you’re letting them crush your passion and your happiness. Dreaming is the very best part of who we are. It’s the part that makes us unique, that has us standing out from the crowd, that lets us create and innovate. Not every choice we make is going to make sense to every person we encounter, and that’s okay.
If you want to get that doctorate degree, or travel to that place, or create that image in your head, you should do it. The world we live in now is growing quickly in every way possible. The only way to keep up is to grow alongside it. That means opening ourselves up to possibilities, ones that only a certain part of our mind has access to: your imagination. By doing so, you’re allowing yourself to grow in unfathomable ways.
We may be spoiled because we were socialized to believe that we were each special, and that we could do anything in the world we wanted. However, it’s what we do with our freedom that truly matters. The issue doesn’t lie in those who believe they can be anything, or those who want to accomplish ten things. The problem lies in those who have a million options but never find it within themselves to seek out any.
Don’t let anyone you encounter tell you that your imagination hinders you. Dreaming is a gift. It provides hope in dark times, creates opportunity where there was none, and drives us to be better than the day before. The second we allow someone to crush this part of us, we are allowing them to take away our freedom, our creativity, and our hopes. In the end it’s not your imagination that inhibits you, it’s the people who forget to believe in the power of that imagination. We are a generation of dreamers, and I’m so proud to belong to it because there will never be a reason stop imagining.
Feature image via pexels.
