Stop Killing Their Dreams

I was at my cousin’s place with my family, meeting and chatting with them after a long time. As we were about to leave in night, my cousin, who has two sons, asked me to counsel her eldest son as to what he should do to become a good student and a professional in future. I was very well interested in talking to her son, as those kids are pretty serious in general understanding of so many things.

I made him sit with me and asked him about which class he is currently in. Then about his favorite and hated subjects. Afterwards, just as I ask an adult about what he really want to become, I asked him what he wanna become when he grow up. He actually chuckled at first to my question. I was expecting this as it is never easy to express your heart out for the first time. I was sure that nobody would have ever asked him such question in his family.

Anyway, what he said to me in answer, just broke me up once again. It was exactly in his innocent words, what I always see and address by observing the daily lives of mature adult professionals. He said, “my uncle wants me to get admission in some aeronautical studies after college.” I said, “But it’s what he wants. What type of study field interests you?” He promptly said, “auto engineering! I love to study about cars and engines and about its every part and how does it work etc.”

I thanked him in my heart for speaking up his interest and love to me, because if I were loud, he’d think that I must be crazy. Then in slow pace I said, “Listen. I can understand that your uncle might have influenced you about this. But what I want to tell you is that just keep on doing as what he and your mother would say. But there is nothing in this world that can stop you to learn about auto engineering on your own.” He seemed a bit confused on hearing this answer.

Then I continued, “Look. We all have plenty of time for personal developments and to learn stuff that we love. And when we do that, we have great energy and focus. So what you need to do is to try harder to learn some more English (as Urdu is the native language here in Karachi, Pakistan) and when you can decently read and listen stuff, just roam around YouTube or other websites. You can find thousands of videos regarding single technique or concept. For example, I once learned about what is Differential Gears and its concept and dynamics. You may easily understand the concepts of transmissions and differences between manual and auto ones etc.”

When I was letting my words flowing by my mouth explaining such possible solutions, I literally sensed color bursts in his eyes. It was a unique shine in his eyes, like he was travelling through a whole other world, a whole other dimension for a while. I continued as we stood up to leave, “never ever give up learning and working on your dream. Do what your parents ask you to do. But a true fortune and satisfaction only come when you are pursuing your dream. Don’t let anyone stop you learning what you want to learn in extra time. That’s my advice.” And then I left.

We constantly see so many people doing high paying jobs, carrying decent designations, driving luxury cars. But still unable to find spark in their eyes. They are filled with extrinsic benefits, which the world sees and judge on. But the health of their inner self can only be seen from their eyes, how often they laugh, pointing out mistakes of others, carrying their insecurities, complaining about deficiencies and not being thankful about blessings they have.

Kids are a great source to understand human nature. They don’t sugarcoat stuff by customizing answers according to their understanding of the the person asking the question. They are honest with everyone. The kid that I mentioned above, clearly showed that how general population is forced to do things that they don’t want to do and hence, end up living a mediocre life. They stay away from risks and prefer choosing jobs, killing their ideas and dreams deep down in their heart. We need to re-assess ourselves regarding what we actually want, what we are capable of and how can we go after it not compromising our social values and available resources.

And remember, there is never too late to pursue a dream or to work on it. No matter what you studied in college, on what degree you have dedicated your youth and hundreds of hours, it is never too late to work on what YOU want.

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