These cliché phrases expressing your never ending freedom to shape your life become meaningless, in one ear, out the other sentences because it’s been chanted by elementary students for years. When I was little I wanted to be many things, firefighter, garbage man (to ride on the back of the truck WITHOUT a seatbelt), doctor, professional soccer play…the list goes on. However there were two significant “careers” I focused on, a wide receiver and CIA special agent. Being the only boy within a two mile radius I had to play football by myself, simple really I was all time quarterback/running back/wide receiver playing against the imaginary defense that stood between me and the other side of the lawn. I also took on the roll of color commentator and coach when I saw needed. This was fun for me and on Sundays my dad and I watched “huck it John boy” (a reference to John Elway throwing the ball which quickly substituted for the word football in the family vocabulary). The following memory I remember vividly, we were eating dinner, I had peas on my plate, and I stated boldly I wanted to be a wide receiver when I grew up. I explained by eagerness to play in the NFL and catch passes from the top quarterbacks at the time. Later that night when I was getting tucked in on my bunk bed one of my parents told me wide receivers get hurt ALL the time, that it’s nearly impossible to get into the NFL because I have to play in college and be better than all of the other players…I was told to pick something else…big dream blown into small pieces before I had any opportunity to find out for myself.
Now the inspiration to be a CIA special agent came from watching the first Jason Bourne and the Recruit. It was sound so cool to be a part of these select few guys who got to be all stealthy, shooting up stuff, having multiple passports and unlimited cash. The thrill of doing something that’s against the law and running away from the cops (and succeeding), no consequences as long as you got the job done and America was safe. I was doing pull ups and pushups (just like Jason Bourne), I would climb on top of our buildings and jump from one roof to the other, at night I would try to sneak into my own house without my mom or sister knowing, I could climb from one side of the kitchen to other without touching the ground (creating the scenario of lasers and pressure sensitive floors). Eventually I found out being a Jason Bourne is not a real job and it’s not really for me anyways…although it’s still a fantasy of mine.
When asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” a first grader will respond with a job that sounds interesting and fun to them, not something based on their yearly salary or how prestigious the position is. Why would they want to do something that wasn’t be fun? So innocent we were, money did not mean a thing to us, until we got a little older and we wanted new clothes, the newest Tony Hawk Proskater, get hot lunch, and have the newest Nike basketball shoes. Then money becomes powerful and starts to show how valuable it is. Some kids were privileged enough to have parents who were well off so they got to wear the Quicksilver and Billabong shirts, while other kids, who weren’t necessarily poor, made due with plain old clothes. Kids grow a lot, what’s the point of buying new shirts every time we have a growth spurt? Kids become teenagers who are too cool to hang out at home and want to go to the mall, eat out, and go to the movies, money becomes an even bigger deal. Do these teenagers still want to be the firefighters and garbage men they set out to be in kindergarten? Doubt it, they want to have a career where the bacon is being brought home day and night. College rolls around and the time to pick a major weighs on the shoulders of these young adults. Money is an even bigger deal during college, whatever pays the bills is a good job at that point. Majors are then picked on how easy it is to get a job out of school, it doesn't even matter if they hate going to those type of classes...as long as they get paid in the future…
Now that was an over-generalization, big time, but there is some truth behind it. Are you doing what you want to do? Are you studying what you want to study? Say you wanted to be a journalist but somebody told you early on it was impossible to make a living doing writing for a living. So you change your course to be something else, you go to school, get a job where you sit at a desk where you wonder why you come to work every day, drink the stale coffee in the break room and talk to employees about the job you cannot stand. Meanwhile there is this gift, love and desire for writing waiting to be ignited. Maybe that person was right who said you can’t make a lot of money being a journalist, but who are they to tell you what you can and cannot do? So what, at least you will be doing something you love and enjoy, you’ll be happier overall because you wake up in the morning knowing you’re doing what YOU want to do. It’s not about paying the bills, it’s not about how prestigious the position is, IT IS about doing something you have a strong desire to do. Those dreams we had when we were little may change, as we grow we see all of the opportunities we have, we see our strengths and weaknesses within ourselves and are able to pinpoint areas where we can excel. The only thing holding back those big ambitions inside of you is yourself. Any dream or goal is attainable as long as the mind is made up, great achievements happen because they are caused to happen. Every outstanding accomplishment is the EFFECT of an equally outstanding inner accomplishment. There are absolutely no great victories created in the outer world that were not first fought and won in the mind.
