Make Someone’s Dream Come True
Today, I want to talk about the importance of dreams. Rather than encourage Dian to follow her dream of studying gorillas in Africa, her parents discouraged it.
A few years ago, I read Bruce Lipton’s book, The Biology of Belief and was blown away. I learned about how our brain is like an internal hard drive from the last trimester in the mother’s womb until age seven. Hardwiring takes place regardless if the parent, caregiver, or teacher is aware. Everything a child sees, hears, and feels is taken as fact during this period of development. That’s why it’s essential to encourage our children’s dreams. They need your kind words to believe in themselves.
I visited schools in East Los Angeles, Watts, and all across the United States for more than 20 years. The title of my presentation was, “Follow Your Dream.” I used Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall, and Biruté Galdikas as role models who pursued their dreams of studying each of the great apes and changed the world for the better because of it.
I’d implore them, “If you don’t have a dream, get a dream,” and they believed me. They seemed hungry for someone to believe in them—and I did. I felt instant gratification after some presentations when kids would surround me with hugs and big smiles (pre Covid-19, of course). It gives me chills to imagine even five percent of the million or so kids whose schools I visited, living their dreams.
I know my message had a positive effect on many of them, one student I know of even became a primatologist. So, the next time you have a chance to inspire a child to follow their dream of becoming an astronaut, a fireman, or a ballerina, seize the opportunity. Your kind words of encouragement are the wind beneath their wings.
Be Your Own Hero
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