Fantasizing about what life will be like as grown-ups is part of childhood. Children’s imaginations continually bloom with thoughts of careers, houses, spouses, and the possibility of children. They paint colorful pictures of what their lives will be like. They dream, without abandon, about their futures. With time and maturity, those dreams, or variations of them, become reality. Some of those desires develop into reality, while others fade away. Without noticing, childhood dreaming gives way to adult living. Dreaming of what’s next gets paused.
Why do we, as adults, stop dreaming of what’s next? We plan our lives to a certain point and often allow obligations to hold back the pursuit of more dreams. Responsibilities take priority, rightfully so, but dreaming gets put on hold for so long that we need reminders to keep imagining the possibilities. Continuing to breathe life into our futures keeps our tomorrows exciting. Once the car, job, house, and family are in place,
the “Now” consumes our thoughts and actions. Life has room for responsibilities and dreams.
Visualizing life beyond today keeps the wheels toward our desired futures in motion. Dreaming of what’s next helps us avoid getting stuck in a rut. Knowing there’s life beyond the career and kids is not enough. Rather than waiting to see, we’re better off picturing what we want that part of our lives to look like. Nothing lasts forever, so we might as well ask ourselves, “What’s next?” No one gets where they are without taking steps to get there, but first, there’s a dream. Holding on to some part of our childhood imaginations does more than keep us young at heart. Dreaming of what’s next keeps us excited to be alive. The content of a dream isn’t as important as the act of dreaming, so keep dreaming.
