When I was a kid, I remember some adults… in particular, a number of teachers and a (supposed) well-meaning relative or two… telling me that I was “nothing more than a dreamer.”
It usually started this way:
THEM: “So, Steve… what are you going to be when you grow up?”
ME: “Oh, I don’t know… I don’t want much… I only want to change the world.”
And then it usually ended this way:
THEM: “You are SUCH a dreamer… you know, one day you’re going to need to get REAL SERIOUS about getting a job somewhere.”
ME: “Oh… yeah, thanks.”
Now, please understand… from my perspective, there were at least two points that were glaringly wrong with this argument:
1) From the time I was about eight years old, I never thought much about working my way up someone else’s ladder… figuring instead that, one way or another, we’d just make it on our own, and
2) All this talk of real serious job-getting tended to come from the same people who told me that I could be whatever I wanted when I grew up… after all, this was America.
Yes, it seemed, I could do anything… I could be anything… just as long as the “anything” was within their comfort zone.
Hmm…
Well, my dear teachers… thirty-five years later, I have some good news. This is still America… technology has made it a lot easier to be whatever we want to be… and yes…
In spite of all the politicians and posers, the nay-sayers and haters… we can still create our own success… we still have the freedom to fail… and I still believe we can change the world.
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