Are you stealing the dreams from your children because you've lost your faith in dreams? Do you find yourself trying to make them understand "reality" and that the limitations they will face is a certainty? Do you demand they prepare for the challenges and stop living with hope in their heart, because hope is meaningless, and dreams are a waste of time? When you read this, does your heart sink because you realize now this is what you have done? Take heart and read on. Change is possible.
When it seems too simple, it isn't. When it seems too hard, it isn't.
Restless Dreamers and Adrenaline Junkies are in short supply and greatly needed. We are living in a time of revolution and change, and it is not the first time America has gone through growing pains. Tyranny has come to our shores and the fight against tyranny is what created the American spirit of 1776. One of the amazing things that makes America different from other countries is the heart of the American people. Those who were willing to step out of the box and find solutions to any challenge that came before them. If there was a void, they filled it. If there was a need, they met it. If there was a thought that could be had, an imagination that saw possibility, they followed their heart and created it. American ingenuity was famous world-wide, and other countries envied us. We did not invent, work, or pursue greatness for greatness's sake, we followed our hearts and our heads because of passion and purpose. We were a nation of restless dreamers and adrenaline junkies, and we need those spirits to be renewed in the children and young adults of today.
Everyone needs opportunity. Unfortunately, many parents reject opportunity when it comes along. Their own fear prevents their children from attempting to succeed by not opening the door when opportunity knocks. Children need to be allowed to enter into opportunity as if walking through that door. There is a saying, “Opportunity only knocks once” and you can miss it if you don’t jump on it. Not only should parents allow their children to grow and experience, but they also need to encourage it. They need to open the door and walk WITH their children through the door being supportive of the effort and courage it takes to reach for the unknown. Who knows what the outcome will be to attempting to gain success? If you never try, you know the outcome is failure. But if you try and don’t succeed, try, try, again. Failure only happens when you quit, and when quitting is not an option, the sky is the limit.
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged,
for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9