Growing Up
Ask a child what they hope to be when they grow up and you will get a variety of answers; nurse, firefighter, policeman, doctor, ballerina, pilot, mom or teacher. Wee ones are full of wonder, hope and dreams. They don’t yet know the word impossible.
When I was growing up my sister and I played a board game known as “Barbie Keys to Fame.” ( thank you Google!) Each player spun a wheel, collected cards and became whatever occupation the spinning thing-a-ma-jig landed on. I always wanted to be the nurse or airline stewardess. I imagined myself in crisp nurse whites with rubber soled shoes walking the silent hallways of a dark hospital or jetting through the skies dressed in blue, taking luggage and seeing exciting places!
But, secretly I wanted to be a jockey.
No laughing please.
Like many young girls, I longed for a horse. I begged and pleaded. No luck. No horse. We lived on a farm and in my mind it would be easy to add this dream animal to our menagerie of black angus cattle and chickens. My parents were unrelenting. The only option was to take matters into my own hands. I set out to learn all I could about horses. I read every “Black Stallion” book on the library shelf and imagined what it would be like to ride my very own horse in the Kentucky Derby.
No matter I was taller at age ten than most jockeys ever become, I was determined. When I learned strong arms might be needed to control a horse, I found an old pipe fastened to the ceiling in our basement and began to do pull ups. I befriended the horse down the street and plotted how I would launch into the world of racing.
My all time pull up high was probably five. Clearly this dream was not going to become a reality for one scrawny,horseless, elementary school girl.
Deep inside of everyone, I believe is a heart longing to “become” something more.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
- If you allowed yourself to dream again… what would it look like?
- What limits your ability to dream?
- How would life change if you gave yourself permission to rekindle a dream?
Do you feel broken?
We all have dreams important to us and we know how heartbreaking it is when hard things happen and dreams slip away. Maybe you feel the dream is no longer possible or time is not on your side.
It is hard to unearth a dream or give ourselves permission to keep dreaming, I love the idea of broken pieces made into something beautiful again with gold. This thought gives me hope.
Dreams are messy and may not work out the way we imagine. Life happens and dreaming often feels like a waste of time.
What If?
- What if our brokenness has placed us where God needs us the most?
- What if we believe we deserve to have a dream?
- What if the dream became a reality?
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. Psalm 28:7
Blessings and a big giant virtual hug as you dare to step out into something new (or old) today!
I remember wanting to be a teacher. I quickly learned I had adopted that dream in order to please my hard to please father. And when I decided I did not want to pursue teaching, well he let his displeasure be known. Most of all I wanted to be a mom, never realizing one of the fringe benefits was repeating many of the joys when I became a grandma again and again and so forth…
Loved your post and I’ve always loved the form of art you referred to taking what’s broken and making something beautiful. And that’s exactly what God is doing with me and all the others out there who acknowledge their brokenness. Love you Nancy.
… not the same as before, but still strong, still beautiful, still useful, and with gold woven between the ragged pieces of our brokenness.
Hugs my sweet Anne!
Nancy
Great reminder to dream openly, because sometimes dreams come true. Even when they don’t there’s something beautiful that arises from the effort.
“something beautiful arrises from the effort”- what a beautiful way to remind us to never stop dreaming!
Thank you Nicole 🙂
Great post, Nancy. Grandchildren are great reminders that we can tune into our dreams – or living our passions (if we can’t become a jockey at this stage.) I love your memory as it makes me curious about my own childhood experiences and what messages may be there for me now. I’ll ponder further today and meet God in the midst.
Being curious is one of those great and precious gifts we learn best from the little people in our lives! I love how they live and love without measure- genuine and real in every fiber. No one has yet told them anything different!!
Blessings-