DREAM

What is a Dream? Is it something that comes while we are asleep? I don’t suppose those dreams will take us anywhere. A dream will not let you sleep; I’m not mentioning the nightmares, but yes...

My parents, teachers, and practically everybody around me constantly advised, I should not daydream. Yet, one of my greatest heroes, Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam, always said we should dream or envision what we desire to accomplish in life. Visualize as if we’ve accomplished and we have to cherish it. Isn’t that called daydreaming? Sounds to me like it is! “So which one should we follow?” This has been a great dilemma for a period. As a child and as a man now, I usually prefer extra when something positive comes my way. I am certain most of us do. For example, extra chocolates, an extra set of dress, etc.. So, I told myself, why not both?

It sounded absurd to me too, when I spoke it out loud. That’s where, as always my parents helped me understand.

1. Dream Big: We need to visualize what we strive to become/what we want in life. The picture should be crystal clear. As if we are living at that moment; have what we want with us, and we should cherish that occasion (s). I must caution you though, we should be very precise about what we want. Including the timeline on how soon we want it. It might sound like a piece of cake, but it ain’t easy. The revelation here is, while thinking about this, there should not be any other thought in our mind. To do that is a tough task. Not impossible, but it is close to it.
2. Work Hard: Now that we’ve started visualizing what we desire, will it all go on just like that? No. Now that's the daydreaming that most elders tell us not to do. And just like all novices, I did precisely that. I visualized myself scoring 100% in my final exams, and didn’t study. And guess what, I scored 51% (the percent required to get through the exams is 50%). “So how does this work?”, I sought my dad — again. He replied, “work hard”. The visualizing part is for us to establish our focus on the goal. To get there, we have to work. Imagine, planning for a vacation to a wonderful destination; will that plan in our mind develop, if you just sit and keep imagining like you’re there? Never! We should work on the expenses, transport, accommodation, etc., and it is the same in life! We have to work towards our objective. Stay focussed on the path until we achieve it.

As a child, I always imagine myself to be superman. I’m sure most children did, and perhaps still do. My dreams were so clear, and I acted towards it. I ate well, I always helped people, and I even made myself a cape. But I could not fly. I could not become superman. I did not get those superpowers. Why? Because he isn’t real. Or I am not an alien (Usually, this is the part where a few or all people in my audience laugh, if this were to be happening in person. I hope you are too, now). When I say this, most people asked me one question. Define DREAM. I do not have a textbook answer to that, but here’s what I feel an actual dream should be like. I’d rather say that’s what DREAM stands for.

Dexterous: It has to be very skillful. It should test our creativity and capability.

Realistic: As mentioned earlier, it has to be real. Something that we can achieve. Maybe Batman? I think not. We have our superheroes in uniforms who would take care of that. Maybe we could be Bruce Wayne, helping the society with everything we can and know.

Exciting: Nobody likes to be boring. Everybody has their unique goals in life and that dream or goal should excite themselves. If it is not, then it is not something we should pursue.

Absorbing: It might sound strange, using this word here, but I prefer to stick to what I say. Our dreams should be absorbing. It should keep us engrossed to the goal. It should absorb our attention to it.

Motivational: What we do should motivate us to do more and should also motivate others to do good, or better. 

There is always more to it than what meets the eye; however, I consider this as the root. If the roots are strong, the tree grows stronger and bigger. So should our dreams.

There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other - Douglas H. Everett