A child of a friend of mine not yet old enough to have a job said this after watching a video I posted today, "he can have his hair long if he wants to, he can even have it pink it is a free country, nobody should tell him to cut his hair except for him." In the video I was talking about freedom being my core values. Years ago I was told to cut my hair short or face permanent lay off without pay so I quit. I didn't quit because I wanted to keep my long hair so much as I wanted to be a free and dignified human being. The length of my hair was irrelevant to my job performance and I wasn't about let some arrogant corporate man involve me in a human domestication program and teach me how to be a good pet at my job :-) My friend Nikki Olson watched my video with her daughter Bryanna when Bryanna said those simple-powerful words reflecting her core values of freedom that almost all of us seem to loose with "maturity".
All of us start out with dreams reflecting our innate core values of freedom which are bestowed upon us by our creator. Oppression is something learned by our environment as we get older and "mature". It's ironic that, "While our Constitution was set up to prevent political dictatorship in doing so we established a society where every ward boss is a dictator, every financier is a dictator, every private employer a dictator, all with the livelihood of the workers at there mercy" - George Bernard Shaw.
As children we dream big dreams but then tragedy slowly creeps in invoking something to take place that is worse than death itself. Most of us if not all of us begin to place our dreams in the "attic" . We begin to trade our dreams for a life of oppression. Most of us never pull them back out of the attic and die before giving our dreams life; making the tragedy irreversible. Some of us will ignite our passions all over again and pull our child hood dreams, along with some new dreams, back out of the attic and begin to take action to give those dreams life.
We should be listening to our kids more often. Maybe not about wisdom quite yet but when it comes to dreams they are far more wise than most adults. If you're a parent or guardian don't teach your kids to put those dreams into the attic to never see life again. Instead teach your kids to gain the wisdom to crystallize their dreams into reality.
"Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true." Leon Suenens 1904 - 1996, Clergyman
I must confess I am not a parent myself but that doesn't stop me from learning from MANY others who are parents. In friends and in the incredible books I read it seems consistent that the children who don't let their dreams die, but rather develop the discipline and the wisdom to crystallize those dreams into reality, do just that and live happier much more fulfilled lives. It's the kids who are taught to put their dreams away and join the "real world" that more often than not grow into very unhappy adults because they traded their dreams for oppression. If you're daily actions are not fueled by your passions then your daily actions are like a cancer that will eventually kill you unless you change. I don't need to be a parent to learn these fundamentals from others who are parents. Encourage your kids to dream but don't stop with encouraging them to dream. Encourage them to develop the discipline and the wisdom to make their dreams come true otherwise those dreams will destroy their sense of self worth which could influence them to do something horrible like join the "real world".
The truly happy person is one who is not afraid to dream dreams and be willing to pay the price to make their dreams come true. THAT'S WHAT YOU SHOULD BE TEACHING YOUR KIDS AND LIVING BY EXAMPLE. Don't you think so? Be the example parents and guardians it's not enough to talk it... Your commitments are only as strong as your actions don't turn your commitments into a joke through inactions in the eyes of your kids because they will see through you and unfortunately most likely model you as they grow. Furthermore, mark my words, your kids will feel sad their mom or dad doesn't have a big enough self image to feel they are worth while to pay the price for their dreams. You must not only preach it to your kids you must also LIVE IT or you will cause immeasurable pain for your kids.
Apathy is at an all time high and so is unhappiness. They correlate. Kill your apathy, pull your dreams back down from the attic, dream big dreams, and be willing to pay the price for your dreams to crystallize into reality. Let that be the wave of positive impact the world so desperately needs. The victories you score over your struggles will give other people hope. It will inspire more people, including our kids, to dream dreams and pay the price for them to come true. To let your struggles win in your life is purely selfish. Don't be selfish...
DREAM BIG AND BE SIGNIFICANT!
Tom - Full time dreamer and Independent Team Beachbody Coach
http://beachbodycoach.com/metalpalace
p.s. The video young Bryanna commented on to inspire this blog :-) (click here)
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