At what point in our lives do we let childhood paradigms dictate the choices we make to follow our dreams? I am a firm believer in the common phrase that God does not give a person an idea/dream if he doesn’t think he/she can make it happen. Many of us have shifted away from our chance to living out our passions and desires, life’s full potential, due to past paradigms and the influences that surrounded us as a child. We subconsciously believe that our own life should be played out in a similar fashion to that of our parents. But in reality, very few of our parents were taught from their own on how to enhance our outlooks on this life. We are taught mostly about survival in a world that is destined to disappoint us at one point or another. Following traditional paths that have already been taken to stay “safe” in this dog-eat-dog world.
The majority of us live out our lives accustomed to tendencies that do not enhance our life. Maya Angelou said, “When you know better, you do better” — and it’s true.
We live in a world now where there are endless opportunities, we can never compare the way we live out our lives to those of our elders because when we do, limitations are set instantly from old viewpoints of what is considered the appropriate way to navigate life. Steering us even further away from that idea or dream, which inspires us the most. We begin to think if it’s out of the norm then it simply just won’t work in our favor and we allow our fears to overcome our actions.
We let our minds blockade us of what we truly want. We allow thoughts to be generated in a negative connotation because it doesn’t fit the mold of practices that surrounded us as we became adults. I’m here to say ERASE the slate and the comparisons to what should be a so-called “normal” lifestyle. We are all given the same opportunity to live out a fulfilled life. If you have a dream you wish to pursue or just dream of a better life for yourself in general, don’t let your circumstances or society influences dictate your thoughts to thinking that it’s not possible.
Train your mind to block the negative thoughts and only allow visualizations of you achieving that goal or dream. I recently watched a video that really put things into perspective for me and I will try to describe it as best as possible. The video portrayed a struggling entrepreneur sharing his thoughts about giving up on his business, at the same time his 6-month-old baby comes crawling over and tries to stand up on his own numerous times before his dad finally helps. His friend then uses the baby’s efforts as an analogy on never giving up. He points out to him that as babies we never thought about giving up, we continuously gave the effort to reach the next level because we didn’t know what giving up was or that it was even an option. All we wanted to do is to explore more and more.
To think what we, as daring adults, could achieve if we always kept trying without placing limitations on ourselves.
It’s funny how life can be beautifully twisted. As we get older we tend to conform to the paradigms that surrounded us as children, which are essentially very outdated. It is okay to create your own path. You don’t have to be married or have kids by 30 and you don’t have to live your life working a 9-5 job that doesn’t make you happy- unless you want to. Anyone can become an entrepreneur and enjoy their work, but it takes an idea, a lot of hard work with determination, patience and persistence. Dreams cannot be made without action, you have to have a game plan. But don’t let paradigms of our elders create resistance. If you have an idea that inspires you and generates an energy of happiness- that’s your soul telling you to follow it. Like I said before, God doesn’t give us ideas and dreams that can’t become our reality. Start thinking outside the box and create a fresh navigation through life that teach our children to follow their desires from within -but also (and this is very important)- to not leave their brain behind. Always continue to learn and educate yourself on the things that interest you most. Until next time.
Always be kind,
Erica xx
ALL IMAGES: RICHARD CRANK
