Unveiling the Power of Dreams

In one of our Danish language classes, we had an assignment to rank the professions that young people in Denmark dream about. We initially placed "prestigious" professions like lawyer, programmer, and politician at the top. Later, we were given the correct answers, indicating that it was a survey among the youth about their dream professions. The textbook isn't very recent, dating back to 2010, but it's not too long ago. Perhaps someone else will be as surprised as I was by the results.

The top spot was occupied by a nurse. I understand that there's absolutely nothing wrong with working as a nurse, and I respect the profession. My initial reaction speaks more about my beliefs than the actual picture, I understand that. I am even more grateful for this survey because it compelled me to reflect further. Still, I believe these results are not entirely normal. Yes, I acknowledge that it might be the dream of some individuals, but the dream of the majority? What surprised me was the scale of the dreams. Why such modest aspirations? The question was specifically about what profession you dream of becoming. Let me explain with an example. In childhood, if you dreamed of becoming a football player, you probably envisioned being a Pele or Messi, depending on your age. Or were you immediately thinking, "Hmm, I might make it to the lower division, but the salary is decent, and I can make a living." Similarly, someone dreaming of becoming a ballerina probably thought of the Bolshoi Theatre or La Scala, or were they like, "Ok, let's perform in a small local theater, and luckily it's close to my place." And so on, you got the idea.

Life, however, often takes a different course due to various factors, many of which are positive by the way. We learn more about the profession we like, delve into it, find appealing aspects, and our dream evolves into a goal with a concrete plan.

This is all understandable. What I meant is that dreams, in my opinion, should be huge, ambitious, and vivid to motivate us and light our path.

As a recruiter, my favorite biblical parable is about talents, which were referred to as money back then. A person went to a distant country and entrusted his property to his servants. He gave five talents to one, two to another, and one to the third, each according to their abilities. Then he left. The one with five talents used them wisely and earned five more. The one with two talents also doubled them. But the one with one talent got scared and decided to bury it in the ground. Upon returning, the master demanded a report. Those who wisely used the money were praised, while the one who buried his talent was condemned for not utilizing his abilities. The story teaches us to use our talents and opportunities, not hide them out of fear.

At what point do we start limiting ourselves in our dreams? I read somewhere that when we are very young, we dream of living in a huge palace. As we grow older, this dream gradually diminishes to the size of a small apartment. Why? I believe people who retain the ability to dream boldly are powerful. Take Elon Musk, for example. Everyone laughed at his space ambitions, but SpaceX achieved unprecedented success, revolutionizing space travel. He knew it might not work out, but even with a small chance, it was worth trying.

Often, our dreams remain just dreams. Various reasons, each worthy of a separate article, contribute to this phenomenon, but for now, let's focus on dreams. Damn it, dream! If you don't even contemplate something, it will never happen, that's for sure. Don't artificially limit yourself. I recall an advertisement for some cosmetic company. People were asked what they would change about their bodies. These were adults talking about different parts of their bodies they didn't like. For example, they wanted a different nose, chin, ears, etc. Then the same question was posed to children. They interpreted it entirely differently, adding superpowers to themselves. Cool, right? People who think out of the box don't think literally out of the box; for them, there is simply no box.

I do this once a year, something like New Year's resolutions. I write down what I want to happen in the coming year. I deliberately set the task that it can be anything my soul desires. Then I forget about this list for a year. After a year, I retrieve and reread it, surprised to find that almost everything has come true. And so it goes every year. I don't know how it happens. Perhaps the brain takes this task into the subconscious and slowly works on it. Maybe the Universe is looking out for me. Or maybe I've been a good girl all year, and Santa Claus exists. I don't care; the main thing is that it works. So keep on dreaming!