A SHOUT OUT TO THE DREAMERS
I was thinking about this the other day after my video chat with my parents and son. Like most families, we’re now blessed with the ability to zoom friends and family to stay in touch. My parents live a good 5 hours away and because my wife and I believe in strong family connections, I video call my mum and dad so they can see their grandson every week. It’s healthy for both relationships and it’s awesome that they’re still a part of his upbringing.
What got me thinking the other day was a comment my Mum made about my son during the call. He’s just managed to pull himself up to standing and shuffle along things and after she saw him get up and shuffle along the couch he tripped and fell over. He was shocked at first but was fine and my mum said, “you’re going to have to keep an eye on him or he’ll hurt himself”. Honestly, my first reaction was ‘GOOD’, I want him to so he learns to get back up but after we finished up the call he did it again, pulled himself up, shuffled along the couch and fell over. He did it 3 more times and every time he fell over. He picked himself back up, I then lifted him to the start of the couch and he went again. I wanted him to get it so bad. Then finally on the 4th attempt, he nailed his footing and shuffled across the entire couch. I jumped over and gave him a massive hug and celebrated his achievement with him. He was so excited (I think it was more because I was excited than shuffling along the couch) but it was such a cool moment together. It was then that I realised that for him, even so young, he’s learning that if he keeps giving things a go, at some point he’ll nail it and for me, I realised that if I give him the support and encouragement he needs, he’ll have the confidence to get back up and give it another go. So many people refer to self-belief as something inside them but I feel like this scenario argues that point. My son probably could have got to the end of the couch in his own time or just given up on it (and probably wanted to) but because I kept taking him back to the start of the couch and encouraging him to go all the way, he built up the confidence to figure things out and get to the other side.
DARE TO DREAM! Kids understand this more than anyone because they always have support and they have no limits because we encourage them to reach for the stars. We, however, experience life completely different. As adults our individual understanding of the world enforces self-made limitations, gives us limited support and at times, tells us enough is enough. If only we had the attitude of children. To go head first and worry about things along the way. This is what dreamers do. They constantly believe they can do anything they apply themselves to and have the confidence to back it up. They didn’t get this way by themselves, they got that way from people consistently telling them that they could and believing in them and their cause. That’s what built their self-confidence, not something from within.
So this is a massive shout out to all the dreamers out there, may you be one, may you support one or may you raise one. The world needs more dreamers and with the right support from us all, there’s no reason why we can’t have more!
