A THOUSAND CROSSINGS X

Dear Diary...
Dreams
vendredi 23 octobre 2009

Dreams

To me, dreams are just dreams, while goals are dreams with a deadline. Dreams only exist in our heads, it is something we think about, we imagine or we hope for. Sometimes we dream of an ideal world, thus it can only be a dream. At other times we dream of our successes, however if we do not put our dreams to actions, our dreams will remain as dreams.

I grew up with many dreams. When I was younger, my dream was to invent a medicine or some mystical potion that would allow me and my family to live forever. I feared death when I was younger and did not want to leave my grandmother – or my grandmother to leave me. I was afraid that when I get reincarnated I will have different parents, or be born in a worse background and environment. Thus I dreamed of being able to live forever so none of that would happen. This dream is a dream that can only exist in my head, something I can hope for but it will never materialize. This is also an example of how our fears can cause us to dream of the impossible. My fear of death and being parted from my family was what drove me to dream, though the dream will never come true.

When I was in Primary School, I dreamt of being the top student in school. However, I was not even close to the top hundred students in the cohort. In the end, that dream remained a dream. That was because I did not set a deadline for that dream. It did not become a goal. As it did not become a goal, there was nothing to thrust me forward to achieve my goals and fulfill my dreams. Thus, this dream could only remain as a fleeting memory in my head and never materialize. This is also an example of daydreaming. Without setting targets and deadlines to assist me in achieving my dreams, I will never get there, because that dream is merely a sandcastle in the air that does not exist. Thus, it is important to transform dreams into goals by setting realistic targets and deadlines to assist us to achieve them. Deadlines pressure us to put in more effort to complete each target on time. Target by target, step by step, we will be closer to achieving our goals and fulfilling our dreams.

Now in Secondary School, I finally have transformed two of my dreams into goals.
The first dream is to do well – and hopefully achieve 10A1s – in these O level examinations. This dream stayed as a dream until I was in Secondary Four, when I eventually woke up from my deep sleep to realize that I had to transform the dream into a goal. I set targets and deadlines for myself and made sure I completed my quota of revision each day. Eventually by the third school-based preliminary examinations, I saw the seeds that I have sown bear fruit. Although there is still room for improvement, I believe that I am a step closer to achieving my goal and fulfilling my dream.

My other dream is to help as many needy children in the world as possible. I know very well that I am lucky to be born in Singapore where natural disasters are obsolete and to a family that has no problems making ends meet. Thus, I feel that it is important to count my blessings and not take these blessings for granted. In order to thank the Universe for blessings me, I wish to help others who are not as fortunate. To achieve my dreams, I have again set myself targets and deadlines. My first step would be to help the needy children in Singapore, before rendering my helping hand over the oceans. I will try my best to raise the awareness of the presence of needy children in Singapore and obtain as much help for them as possible. After raising the awareness, hopefully there would be more people who will be willing to volunteer or help the children. Then, I wish to set up a children’s mission to shelter and educate the needy children so as to help them escape the underachievement trap as well as the poverty cycle. Although this is a big dream, and a large goal to be achieved, I feel that if I do not dream big, there is no use in dreaming; my dreams should not only benefit myself, but also others.

In conclusion, our dreams are nothing unless we decide to metamorphosise them into goals. Setting goals help us to achieve our dreams by telling us that it needs to be completed as soon as possible. Apart from that, what we dream of is also very important. There is no point dreaming of things that will not exist or will not be able to be achieved. It is more important to dream realistically and pragmatically, dream dreams that would benefit others and then transform them into goals and achieve them. Dreams are just dreams, but goals are dreams with deadlines waiting to be achieved. Dream big.

Au Revoir

yongliang

he closed his diary at {17:26}