I have been called a dreamer all of my life. As a constant reminder, I have a glass plaque that reads: “work hard and dream big”. It is strategically placed at the entrance of my house as a reminder of my life’s purpose. It’s a testament to my convictions that if I dream big and work hard, any goal is achievable, and your thoughts, ideas, and actions can turn into success.
As a teenager, one of my biggest dreams was escaping poverty and hunger. At the time, the thought of having unlimited good food felt like a dream. The priest at St. David’s Catholic Church was a relative of my family in Trinidad and Tobago, he received word of my poverty-stricken life. The man was compassionate towards me and graciously offered to assist me with daily lunch.
The church was located beside my high school. The employee at the church was aware of my daily arrival at recess. I would go to a separate building at the back of the church and knock on the door. A beautiful lady would greet me with a smile, a warm cheese sandwich, and a glass of cold orange juice.
“Dreams are our subconscious beliefs that can eventually become a reality. Whether they come true or not all depends on how bad you want it.”
That act of kindness was my life’s small indulgence and I looked forward to it. I would sit on the concrete stairs, eat my lunch, thank her for her generosity and head back to school. On a few occasions, I would knock on the door and call out for her but got no response which meant there was no lunch that day.
I would stay there nonetheless and daydream of access to unlimited food, especially fried chicken and French fries covered in tomato ketchup. It seems almost impossible how I envisioned this wishful thinking, but it came to pass a few years later when I moved to Canada.
In my mid-thirties my next dream was to become an entrepreneur and business owner. In my sassy, confident way, I would go around professing what a successful businesswoman I would become one day. I remember a co-worker saying to me, “are you on drugs”? Another one whispered under his breath “silly girl,” as he walked out of my office. Not everyone is positive and supportive, but I didn’t care because it was my dream not theirs and their opinion didn’t matter.
Your dream is your life’s purpose and goal. It gives you an essence of your core being and it does not have an expiration date. You are never too young, old, poor, or too black to live out your dreams. Don’t let certain life circumstances get in your way because chasing a dream is not only a thought but a real possibility. Once you dream it, believe it, work towards it, and become passionate about it, your dreams can come true. You should stop following your dreams and chase them until they become a reality.