‘No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.’ – Dead Poets Society
Whilst sipping my coffee and exchanging gossip with a friend at uni today, we stumbled across two words which can destroy dreams.
SHOULD and CAN’T
Should – used to indicate obligation, duty or correctness
Can’t (Cannot/Can not) – not able
In life, we are constantly told to dream big, follow our dreams, be true to ourselves, discover who we really are and want to be etc. But not many people warn us of the little insecurities that creep into our minds and eat away at our seemingly untouchable dreams. Many times in my life, I’ve found my self saying ‘I can’t’ or ‘I should/shouldn’t do that.’ But why? I know that I should do the dishes when I go home, I should be nice and respectful, should work hard and should spend less time on Facebook. These are things I think I should do because they are things that I truly value (and I don’t think Mum would be too happy with a sink full of dirty dishes).
Life seems to throw a lot of should’s around. You should finish high school. Get a high ATAR. Go to university. Get HD’s. Study hard. Balance a healthy social, physical, work life. Eat healthy. Graduate. Get a job. Get some life experience for that job. Get married. Have children. Get a promotion to pay for your kids…. the list goes on (refer to clichéd Hollywood films for more should’s).
But the thing is, no one should do anything. The things that I have done in my life so far have been a mixture of should’s and want’s… and I think want is a much more powerful world than should. I want to travel the world. I want to be at university. I want to have a thriving social life. I want to do well. I want to graduate. I want to travel the world some more. I want to learn a language. I want to fall in love. I want to always be happy and free, and the only way to do that is to believe you can!
There’s only a few things that I can’t do on this earth. Fly (though there’s ways to come close that), walk through walls, keep my room clean (I’ve tried and that is something I physically cannot do), understand hatred, ever love stingrays or breathe underwater (though there’s ways to achieve that too). The point is, even the most out of this world, insane, crazy, ridiculous idea can be made possible.
You want to read every book on earth? Start reading. You want to be a musician? Start playing. You want to go to the moon? Study and work really hard and become an astronaut (or if you’re really lucky, win a trip there… thank you Richard Branson). And me… what am I doing to overcome these insecurities that sometimes shadow my dreams? Firstly, I write them down and accept them. Then I develop a way in which I can make it happen… and do it. Right now, my big goal is to go on exchange in 2016. I remember thinking ‘ooh no I can’t, I won’t have enough money.’ Well, now I have a job and plan to work my ass off over Christmas to save save save so that I CAN achieve my goal.
The only things that you should do is tell yourself that you can achieve anything your heart desires, if you have the courage to pursue it!
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A Worldly Addiction 