One of my workmates emailed me about her dreams this week. She told me that even though her friends seemed to have given up on saving the world as they got older, she hasn’t been able to. She still wants to make a difference and a consequential one. She wrote, “I know you are going to think this is crazy, young, and idealistic, but I still want to save the world…” I don’t think it’s crazy. It’s idealistic but definitely not young. If only young people can be idealistic, I think that makes the world a very sad place once we’re past our twenties.
Now that I have a child in this world, I believe I have even more reason to want it to be perfect. While my understanding of perfect and the boundaries of my possible effect in the world might change, my need to make it a better place hasn’t and hopefully will never go away. I still want to start a nonprofit. I still think that you can change the world and I still want to be only surrounded by those who believe in the power of change.
I never understood the cynicism that I saw in some of my friends. While I can understand that there can be experiences that lead one to question life and the way things work, I don’t understand the advantages of cyncism. What good is it? Does it make the person happier? Does it make the world more livable? Does it mean you’ve won somehow? I feel like it gives you nothing but negative energy that makes the rest of your life even more bleak and even more depressing.
If one chose to stick by their dreams and maybe alter them to be more realistic, more reachable, in smaller increments, wouldn’t that make their life more enjoyable? Wouldn’t it give them something to look forward to each day? Teach For America was a pretty depressing experience for me and I suffered a lot but I still think it’s a wonderful organization and I am glad it exists. Would I like it to be doing some things differently? Sure. But at least they are there, trying. That’s more than many of us.
I hope more people out there are like my work friend and still chasing a version of their dreams. Those are the people who will change the world and make it a better place for all of us.
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