Surabhi Bhat
It is known to all of us that the major component of the human body is water, up to 60% to be exact. But I would say that whatever these elemental proportions in our body, in actuality, it is the dreams that breathe life into it.
A burning desire for betterment inspires a person to dream. ‘Hope’ is the motivation behind every wish, which gives us leave to dream and dream big. I can even go as far as to say ‘hope’ begets ‘dreams’; dreams beget aspirations, which in turn lets a person achieve the impossible. There are tales as old as time which has time and again recounted heroic, legendary acts by men from various parts of the world, which seems quite impossible in the light of the day. Not just the legends, but after the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, man has created miracles, that would have seemed quite impossible in the olden times.
I quote Paulo Coelho when I say “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it” − The Alchemist. But ‘wanting something’ should be equivalent to ‘a great longing’, which should be directly proportional to ‘hustling your way to achieve your dreams’. When it is put that way, it’s easier to see that ‘dreaming’ is indirectly proportional to ‘achieving success’, the only limit being how much effort you put into fulfilling your dreams.
As a kid and a nature lover through and through, I had these grand dreams of adventure, becoming a paleontologist, finding prehistoric remains or running behind reptiles, dragonflies, damselflies, beetles, and birds in my parents’ backyard. The world as I knew it was beautiful, colorful and simply awe-inspiring. I am sure all teens can relate to me, when I say I wished a lot of things were true, like the Pikachu from the Pokémon, Scooby-Doo and the whole gang, and dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park. I have even gone through a phase of the ‘Harry Potter’ hype, reading and re-reading the novels. Well, I can look back at my 14-year-old self and say “Hey Dumbo! the real world is more serious than that and certainly darker”, where us – the protagonists of the story does not seem to achieve things that we have dreamed of, instead, stumbling head-first into Devil's Snare (obstacles), many more times than finding the philosopher’s stone in our own pockets (dreams, wishes, and aspirations).
Things change as we grow up; our dreams and aspirations change; ‘hope’ grows scarcer and life turns more challenging than any novel story, and unfortunately, this happens to each and every one of us.
I remember my teacher once inquiring us in the class of aspirations for our future − “What is your dream?”. Someone wanted to become a doctor, other an engineer, and yet another a scientist, and so on and so forth. On the whole, everyone wanted to be a successful somebody. When the same was asked of me, I was ashamed that I really had no substantial, original, or unique aspiration of my own. So, I borrowed someone else’s and repeated it. For a while, it felt like I could be a good engineer, and some other days I felt truly morose and knew that I had no intense desire to learn any aspect of engineering. Another time I would tell myself that I can become a doctor, but I would know that I have no stomach for enduring much blood and gore. A long time after that I kept wondering about my dreams and aspirations. It irked me that I did not have a great dream for my future.
Currently, as a person in the vicenarian year, I often reflect back to the times that I have dreamed big. Are there any amongst us who have not dreamed of a big, lavish house, with Hanging Gardens of Babylon-type of setting, hundreds of people working for our convenience, big bank account, and bigger cars? Now, I usually ask myself, are dreaming big things better? Would these big things bring me any satisfaction or peace?
Alas, the only thing that I could see myself doing (still do as a matter of fact), is sitting in a corner, holding a novel of any size or genre in one of my hands, and a cup of hot steaming tea in another, reading away like my life depends on it. Nothing can replace my time with reading happily-ever-afters, the various fiendish villainous dark heroes and miss-do-good heroines with an iron will. Because that is truly when I am really happy.
My dream, there it was, buried under a layer of ignorance, pretentiousness, many other better-sounding dreams, and people’s expectations of me. When all that unwanted layer was removed, it blossomed: dream to be “happy forever”, because I believe happiness encompasses everything. Whatever the other materialistic dreams and aspirations, I never want to forget to be happy. Happiness, peace of mind, and self-satisfaction are the three things in life that should be our ultimate dreams or aspirations. Because with them comes self-realization to be empathetic, giving, loving and caring, and be a better person. So, I believe that when people do dream big, they should dream better.
Investing in one’s happiness is the key to unlock all of our big, better wishes. Life is a gift, and to be happy is to thrive. When we have no happiness within us, it is more likely that we give up. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time” − Thomas Alva Edison, who invented the light bulb, after a lot of initial failures, but at the end achieved his goal. You dream to inspire yourself, while your achievements inspire others.
So, invest in your happiness today and see it grow exponentially and influence others positively.