Remember how when you were a kid you weren’t afraid to dream? Then somewhere along the way, you learned to laugh at the foolish people who had dreams instead of having them yourself.

I clearly remember the day that I began to doubt my dreams…

It was 1989 and I was 14 years old… at the time (remember, this was the 80’s ok!) my dream in life was to own a brand new Corvette with customized heart tail lights. That dream consumed my thoughts. Even at 14, I was convinced that I would own a business and be rich one day.

I begged my mom to take me to go look at the Corvettes at the dealership. She agreed and, after work one day she picked me up and we went to the car lot. I was on top of the world when we arrived. I had never seen so many of my dream cars up close like this before. I had never ever seen the inside of one or gotten to sit in once. My mom looked very nice and perhaps wealthy in her corporate attire so it’s no wonder that the sales person approached us so cordially.

“Are you looking for a new car for yourself?” he asked my mom. My mom told him that no, we were looking for a new car for me and that when I was 16, I was going to get a Corvette. The sales person was surprised, probably thinking he had an easy catch. “Wow – so mom and dad are going to buy her a Corvette for her sweet sixteen?” He asked. My mom told him – oh no, she’ll be buying it herself! She’s going to save up the money to buy one.

Then in one single moment, that sales person set me down the path of forever doubting my dreams - He laughed at me. Not a chuckle – a hearty laugh as if he hadn’t been that amused in days. Until then, I completely believed that I could save up the money for a Corvette in the 2 years between 14 and 16, but with that laugh came doubt that this idea was possible.

I started to cry right there in the car lot and my mom told me something that I’ll never forget. She told me that you have to protect your dreams. That you can’t tell people about your dreams because the will not believe you and they will try to tear your dreams down.

Most people do not want you to succeed. I don’t think they do this intentionally, but I do believe that the people in our lives have a very difficult time seeing us for what we might be rather than what we could become.

Even more importantly, most people don’t want you to change because they need you for whatever role you are filling in their life and if you were to succeed, you would not fill that role any longer. The closest people to you in your life are also the ones that can smash your dreams the hardest.

Today I still take my mom’s advice – but I’ve become stronger. I don’t share my dreams with people until I have enough inner confidence in my dreams to handle the blows. I expect that most people won’t be supportive. If they are not, I never talk to them about it again. If they are supportive, then I’ve found an incredible person who is not afraid to dream and I become that much more confident in my belief that anything is possible.

Which person are you?

• The person that’s afraid to dream?
• The person that tears apart other people’s dreams and won’t allow them to change?
• Or the person that is confident enough to dream?

I think we’re all a little bit of each. But one thing is for sure. If you allow yourself to dream, your life can take on meaning again. And if you really LISTEN to other people when they tell you about their dreams and believe that they can change, you might be surprised and what people are capable of.

So do yourself and someone else a favor today – allow yourself to dream and give other people the permission to do so also.

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