You know how when you hear a word or phrase and your mind can wander off to a million different things? That's not the case for me with the phrase: "I'm being realistic."
Whenever I hear this phrase being said it's been in the same context time after time; it involves someone sharing a dream and aspiration of theirs only to have it received by the "realistic" mentality of another.
"I want to become a doctor when I grow up."
"That's a lot of work and a lot of money, you probably won't make it. I'm being realistic."
"Do you think I could make a career for myself out of this?"
"There's a lot of competition out there and the odds that you'll get a break through are super low. I'm being realistic."
"This is what I love, this is what I want to do with my life."
"That's not going to get you anywhere, I'm being realistic."
This is what day in and day out I've heard for years, and I'm not exempt from this either. I've shared my "realistic mentality" with others and I've even used it on myself. To a certain extent, it's a great benefit to be realistic, but not to the point where we sacrifice our dreams of life simply because we don't believe we can actually achieve them.
Our potential is often soiled because we've become far too realistic. I know a great number of people who at one point in their lives had a dream for themselves but through the years they've given it up. "I'm being realistic." is their favorite phrase. That realism damages the image we have of ourselves. We underestimate our potential, ignore our abilities, and believe more in our failures than in our possible successes.
As kids, our desire to dream was at it's absolute highest. We wanted to grow up to be doctors, race car drivers, singers, astronauts, etc. Adults, well they want to just get by. So, what happens in that period of time? Why did we allow ourselves to lose that ability to dream? Simple. We became far too realistic, to the point where we stopped believing in our dreams.
It's something incredibly dangerous to lose faith in yourself. "I'm being realistic" is just an excuse for that lack of faith. We're coming to a time where less and less people are willing to go after that dream. The majority will settle down for being realistic, for staying in the "safe" zone. Sometimes it's not even the world who comes against us, it's us.
Dare to dream.
You should never stop dreaming. Bottom line. It doesn't matter what others think can happen in your life and it doesn't matter how improbable your dream may sound, you owe it to yourself to go out there and try.
Don't let your ambitions become belittled by the opinions of others and definitely do not be the one to belittle yourself. You will never know the extent of your potential if you continue to live in a far too realistic world that demands nothing more than an ordinary existence. Be brave enough to challenge yourself to go after more than what others think you should do.
