Picture this. You are five years old and someone asks you the question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” For example, my answer was a veterinarian, musician and the President of the United States. (To be completed in that order.) Other kids answers were similar with future astronauts, doctors, dancers, teachers and firefighters sitting side by side. So how did it happen that less then 50 percent of my class ended up pursuing a higher education?
I remember the little girl I used to be. She wasn’t worried about if her future college degree would get her a job and she didn’t know what failure was. She slayed dragons on the playground and jumped over lava in the living room. She was fearless.
She knew how to exist without the attention of the boys. In fact she thrived without it. She along with her friends had a pact against the male gender and would run screaming “Cooties!” if one happened to get too close. She didn’t know the pain of wiping her friends' tears away after a boy broke her heart or carrying a friend home after one too many at a party and a guy tried to take advantage of her.
She wasn’t afraid to raise her voice. She knew what was fair, what was right and square. She wouldn’t settle for any less and would argue with a person about the perfect shade of red until the sun went down. She may have been loud and wild, but she spoke her mind and was genuinely happy.
Until one day. One day when the little girl grew up. She no longer read fairy tales because the world had taught her that they don’t exist. She didn’t run from boys but fed off their attention to judge her self-worth. She gave up her favorite: her mom’s homemade cookies to fit into jeans that would lift her self esteem into the clouds, only to come crashing down when a boy called her fat. She fell silent and doubted her opinions after a teacher told her to be seen and not heard.
Just like that, all the goals and dreams that the little girl had fell on deaf ears to her teenage self. Why? Why did all that’s wrong and broken in society have to ruin her dreams?
Society isn’t ready for her. So instead of accepting her dreams, they cut her down. We are taught that our dreams shouldn’t be our first priority and society believed it. After a while, we believed it too. But we shouldn’t.
Just because society isn't necessary ready for us doesn't mean we should give in.
We have a duty to ourselves to use the gifts we were given to our fullest advantage. Anything less and that's a waste. Not just to ourselves but others. The little girl who was fearless is still inside of you and all it takes is a little faith to be as strong as she believed she was. Succeed for her, and for those who believe in you. It makes a difference, and it really does matter.
When I was young, my mom went back to work part-time. Although her job had night meetings and she worked outside in the summer, you could tell she was truly passionate about her work, and was equally passionate about her kids: that combination is what made her life's purpose.
Every single person is different, and their life purpose varies as well. Our goals are to find our life purpose and strive to achieve it, and work to the best of our abilities. Once you find your purpose, don't rest until you've reached it. "If you can believe it, you can achieve it."
And the next time you talk to a younger girl? Believe in her, so she may never doubt herself and give up on her dreams. Be the change in society, and someday society will have to change.
