When you’re little, you have many hopes and dreams. You dream about being a princess who turns a crumbling kingdom into a beautiful paradise. You imagine yourself as a successful doctor who has tons of money, a beautiful house and the most expensive sports car. Once you get older, your dreams become more and more realistic. You dream of getting a car right out of college and being stable in this crumbling economy. The more you grow and experience the real world, the more your hopes and dreams become simpler.

I don’t know about you, but the more I struggle in school, the more my goals turn into, “I just hope I don’t fail this class,” or “I hope this assignment doesn’t tank my grade.” It’s kind of sad honestly. It’s sad how as we grow, our dreams turn from wild to mild. A lot of people think that this is due to the fact that little kids have a big imagination, but in my opinion, it’s not. It has everything to do with the fact that as we grow, we are told that some of our hopes and dreams are unattainable. They tell you that you can be everything you want to be but then tell you that you can’t.

You can dream of being a basketball player but then someone will tell you that you are not tall enough. Maybe you want to be an artist, but you can’t draw things at the top of your head. Everywhere you go, someone will tell you that you can’t do whatever you dream of, I say, you can.

You can do anything you set your mind to. Absolutely anything. The important thing in life is to remember that everything comes with work. You can’t get anywhere without working for it. Hard work and dedication are what take people places. The most successful people work hard every day to ensure that they continue to succeed. Yes, there will be people in your life that will tell you that you can’t do something. They’re wrong.

Those people are rude and selfish, and you do not need that sort of negativity in your life. Telling someone that they can’t do something is absolutely heartbreaking. You can do anything in this life because life is the longest thing we are ever going to do. People tell you to be realistic with your dreams because they don’t want to see you get hurt when you don’t achieve them, but what they don’t realize is that saying this can actually do the hurting. You don’t know whether or not you can do something until you try. And when you try, you need to give it everything you have. Pour your sweat, blood, and tears into what you love. At the end of the day, this is your life. The only person who is living your life, is you.