DREAMS:  DREAM SMALL

By:  Madison Padgett

I’d like to introduce you to my creative friend and daughter, Madison Padgett from Vancouver, Canada.  I’ve always loved the way she writes and her perspective on life.  And from the time she was 2 years old, we have not stopped dreaming together.  Madison’s an extraordinarily talented woman who is a film and theatre enthusiast; a natural leader with keen business savvy; and carries an immense curiosity for people and psychology.  Madison shares her thoughts on the famous topic of “Dreams”.

 

 

DREAMING SMALL

I grew up with Disney characters.

It’s an interesting experience having Disney characters as your friends; they always have the most beautiful things to say.

Take Cinderella for example:

“A dream is a wish your heart makes when you’re fast asleep.
In dreams you’ll lose your heartache, whatever you wish for you keep.”

Or Aurora (A.K.A Sleeping Beauty):

“I know you; I walked with you once upon a dream.”

Or Mr. Jiminy Cricket:

“When you wish upon a star, doesn’t matter where you are,
when you wish upon a star your dreams come true.”

And the list goes on. All my Disney friends, good or evil, had these huge dreams that always came true.

Let me tell you, I love my childhood friends!  But they are living in a fairytale and fairytales aren’t real.

I don’t have a beautiful, sepia toned picture of nature with an inspiring quote about pursuing your dreams to share.

Life, no matter how many movies you watch, is just not that way.

Life is born from chaos and in it we find beauty because we are oddly optimistic creatures which in itself is beautiful.

But when we start to delude ourselves into being fairytales we cease to be something so much more important: REAL.

When I was young, growing up in a church, I had someone “prophetically” tell me I was going to be the next Moses……Yeah! MOSES?!

HOLY SHIT! I was 10.
Talk about some serious pressure.

But I ate it up. I believed, because of my Disney friends, church and parents, that I was something special. And you know what?

I’m not.

I’m Normal. And so are you.

And I love it! And you should too.

There is too much pressure to make something of yourself; to have these crazy intricate dreams that you have to strive to accomplish.

Why is it that most kids when asked the question:

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Don’t say:

“A Janitor.”

What’s wrong with being a Janitor? We need Janitors. What a selfless profession.

But if a kid were to say that, you’d laugh. Why? Cause aren’t they supposed to be Astronauts and Ballerinas?

We get asked to define what our dreams and goals are at such a young age and discouraged if they aren’t great enough.

How about we leave the kids alone and let them focus on figuring out how to spell “that”.

Our dreams shouldn’t ever make us feel that we can’t achieve them.

So let them be small!

*GASP*

Yes, I am saying to dream small.

Instead of your dream being:  “I want to own a beach one day.”

Make it: “I want to be able to go down to the beach every night till the day I die.”

Instead of your dream being: “I want to change the world!”

Make it: “Every day I want to make one person genuinely smile.”

Because what is the point of having a dream if it never makes you happy?

What’s the point of your life if you can’t ever live freely in your dreams?

Maybe by making your dreams attainable you can actually see their value. This way by the time you take your last breath you will know that every dream you ever have had you achieved. Not just once, but every day until your last.

If I was to ask you to build a home made of rocks would you walk over to the greatest boulder, give it a shove, realize it won’t budge, then stare at it for the rest of your life waiting for it to turn into a house?

Then don’t.

It may not be glamorous to make your dreams small. They may not make a Biopic about you for the discovery channel.

But you will be happy. You will feel accomplishment and joy every time you pick a new dream and achieve it. You will have mattered.

The brightest lights are the most noticeable when they begin to fade.

So start with a spark,

And build yours.

-Madison Padgett