Don't Forget Your Childhood Dream

Lay-off Tip #10: Dreams Still Can Come True, Just in a Different Form

I was thinking back the other day about some of my childhood dreams. The age old story you tell yourself about what you want to be when you grow up. The reality is, I think you will probably always ask yourself that question. My dad still says that!

When I was little, I remember thinking at first that I wanted to be an electrical engineer. What's up with that!?! How did I know what that was? I actually think it was featured on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood one day and I thought, that would be a different job - I could make light bulbs turn on! Then I slowly evolved into wanting to go into professional politics. I wanted to be a Senator (I even wrote a report about it in 8th grade). I loved everything about politics - most likely because my Dad dabbled in professional politics when I was younger. His tag line, "Vote for English, I speak your language." I loved it. Sadly the people didn't as much as he didn't win that election. But nonetheless, the passion for politics and government came to the forefront, hence why I majored in Political Science in college and immediately moved to Washington, D.C. when I completed college.

Looking at those two ideas I had for when I grew up, one could easily think, well, those didn't come true! What's the point of those dreams if you're just going to go down another path. I'd argue that that they did come true, just in another form.

I realized probably in the last five years, that my passion is for educating and motivating people around the world. I love interacting with people, I feel like I understand them and nothing gives me more pleasure than helping someone gain a little more faith in themselves. So I would say that I have the electrical engineer in me because my passion is making those light bulbs go off in people. And I have the politics in me because I enjoy the true spirit of public service and the real reason folks should go into that arena. To help others. To find a platform where they can positively influence those around them. That's what it's all about. And to be an advocate for the people (you remember my advocacy post a week or so ago?).

That is who I am. That is what I love. And regardless of where my path goes in the future, I will still be living those childhood dreams. Think about yours for a minute. What did you want to be? Are you incorporating that in any way into your life? If not, take a little time to see how you can get back to the root of where that dream started. You may not really be able to be that astronaut, but you can find a job/hobby that fulfills that passion to fly; or to take risks; to be bold; to solve problems; etc.

Cheers to Childhood Dreams Coming True! See you in Disneyworld (where dreams come true...get it) :)
Rachael