Over the last few months, I
have dared myself to dream again. One man opined that the dreams you had at the
age of 16 are more likely the dreams that you will achieve, if you put your
focus to them. I, however, take the school of thought that “young men can see
visions, and old men can dream dreams”. Dreams are not age-restricted. Dreams
can be conceptualized at any given age, but they can be actualized at various
capacities, depending on the individual dreamer.
Be brave enough to dream. It is
with the heart of courage that the most hidden dreams can be brought out of the
shadows and implemented, for greater impacts. When I was younger, in my teens
actually, I used to dream of owning a multiple chain of businesses, dealing
with various automobile products. I mean, my love for cars was just crazy! I
remember one day, during one of our many frequent road trips (well to be
honest, back then we didn’t use to call it road trips. It was less fun and severely
tiresome!) I would watch my dad change those gears systematically, eyes on the
road. I formed a picture in my head- seeing myself in a James Bond-like movie
performing certain crazy badass stunts with a sportscar that made terrifying
exhaust noises on the road. I even pictured my best friend being my co-driver.
And it was okay. It was a wonderful picture that influenced my teen years. I
kept reassuring myself that I could be that crazy driver that I saw in my dad.
I encouraged myself that I could be even more. I could dream more. I could act
more.
When I was in my 2nd
year of high school, one of my teachers asked me, “what do you want to be when
you grow up?” I have to be honest though; I never ever, even in the least bit,
liked this question. It was taunting. It always reminded me that there is a lot
to be done. That growing up was inevitable, and the way I loved my childhood.
It beckoned me to utter responsibility and some ounce of maturity was required
of me even in my childhood. Answering that question would even mean you would
be held accountable, and maybe someday, the one who asked would sarcastically
be like “I knew it… I knew you won’t amount to what you were dreaming of. Haha!”
That scared me as a kid. I did not want to end up being the screw up of our village,
our estate, our school, or even our clique of friends. That is why I seriously
loathed that question.
“A businessman,” I answered my
teacher. “Oh, wonderful. What area exactly would you like to do business in?”
There she goes again. These questions were really draining. This would be the end of me, I thought. “Automobiles.
I love cars; I would love to have a company that has multiple showrooms here in
Kenya where quality vehicles would be sold at a reasonable price.” At that
point, I felt surer about my dream, talking about it rather than
conceptualizing it in my head. “Aah wonderful,” was my teacher’s reaction. “You
ARE a businessman. Alright, go back to class now, businessman.” That statement
alone reassured me that it was possible. That I can do anything, be anything,
eat anything, laugh at anything (hehe okay, I got carried away there, but you
get my point). Since that day to date, the teacher still calls me a
businessman. I haven’t exactly realized that specific dream but I have been on
course; still laying bricks to the foundation of the dream. I have had my hands
on a couple of businesses, and several ideas have been birthed over the years
but the statement ““You ARE a businessman…” always holds me accountable.
Life has always been dynamic.
That is why change is inevitable and we a times fall victims of the hands of
time. The dynamism of life, however, must never negatively affect the stability
of our dreams. Life throws rocks at you? Build mansions with them. And no
matter what, keep dreaming. Keep figuring out what you want out of your life.
Keep desiring more- there is a reason why it is called a dream, and not simply
a thought. It is a preconceived idea, a peep into the future, a crazy
imagination of how else life could be if only you took the appropriate steps.
Courage is a pre-requisite in the process of dream implementation. How so? Your
dream may be crazily expensive to attain. Courage says. ‘yes you can’. You
dream, more often than not, gives you goose bumps when you picture it. Cold thrills
run up your spine when you think about it. This is due to the intensity and
uniqueness of your dream. You feel like you will fail because no one has ever accomplished
it before. But courage says, ‘it can be done.’ In fact, courage will be
straightforward with you and tell you, “If you don’t do it, someone else will. And
I will help them.” And then you will start saying, “I thought we were friends” hehee!
My point is made: let courage
spearhead the activation and implementation of your dream. Age, budget,
resources, time, and other factors are just circumstantial milestones that you
can cover. One constant factor should be this: be bold enough to dream [I had to put that in bold, pun intended ;)].
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