Week 10: Big Dreams

I've always had big dreams, and I think I was born with the confidence I needed to achieve them.

I remember the very first time I ever doubted myself. I told my dad I wanted to be an astronaut, and he told me I'd have to be big and strong and exercise a lot. Now, I didn't know much about myself (or anything really) at the time, but if there was one thing I did know, it's that I am never going to be big AND strong. So I gave up on my astronaut dream. 

Imagine my surprise when years later I learned that being short is actually an advantage to astronauts and pilots, because a small frame just fits better in a compact cockpit or space shuttle. This whole experience taught me something very important: my instincts are often more correct than the words of doubters. No shade to my dad, who is great (albeit a little bit of a cynic), but I can do more than I thought I could, and that's still true today.

In the Alchemist, one of the core ideas is that when we are children, we know more about our life's purpose than we do as adults. Somewhere along the way, as we grow up, we learn to doubt ourselves, we learn to believe we're not good enough, we learn to think that nothing we really want is something we can really ever have. It's sad that this happens, because I think it's our biggest obstacle that stands in the way of our biggest dreams. You might have every resource you need in abundance, but if you don't know that or don't believe it, nothing will ever happen as a result.

How do we recognize our own inherent gifts & resources, and how do we forget the unhelpful lessons of childhood?