Dream Big or Play Small?

Play small. Hide your light.  Don't be authentic. And most of all don't dream big. Don't dream at all. Find the most ordinary, unremarkable goals to pursue.

This is the message my children get every time they leave home.

Conform. Conform! CONFORM!!!

It's for their own good.

You can't afford a good four year college so just go to the tech.

You'll never be a good enough pianist to get into music school.

You'll never be big enough to be a college football player.

You can't be in the Olympics.

What gives these people the right to step on the dreams of a child? Childhood is not about being reasonable.  Childhood is not the time to be bound up by limits and restrictions.

Dream big. Imagine that you're a famous football player for the NFL. Imagine that you're a concert pianist travelling the world. Imagine that you're a ballerina, an airline pilot, a teacher, an astronaut, a doctor...anything.

Believe that you can make it into the college of your dreams and get a scholarship too. Believe that you're going to marry the perfect partner.  Believe that you will find your dream job.

It is not my place, or yours to prepare the children of the world for disappointment and failure. It is our job as the caretakers of future generations to encourage their dreams. To encourage them to get up after they fall. To dry their tears.

Unfortunately too many teachers and coaches and parents, for the good of the child, step on their dreams.  Fame and fortune aren't for the likes of you. Success means playing it safe. Get a job and a mortgage and spend the next 30 years doing what you're told. That's the message our future is getting.


Don't even try to change the world or make a difference.

The voices and the dreams of the children drowned out by the well meaning intentions of those who know better.

My children come home and tell me what they've heard. I see the looks on their faces. They still believe in themselves but they no longer believe in those others who tell them they can't do it, they aren't good enough. They have lost their faith in you, their teachers and coaches. They don't trust you any longer.  They will no longer confide in you.

My children are told over and over that they can do anything,  go anywhere, be anything they chose. My belief in them and the messages they hear at home and their self confidence combine to be strong enough to combat the negative messages.


My heart aches for the children that don't have that resilience, who have lost their dreams at such a young age.

I will fight for my children's dreams. I will fight for their self esteem. I will fight for their future until they are strong enough to fight for themselves.

Dream big. If you can imagine it, you can achieve it.