I came across this quote from the Colombian author and Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
“It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.”
How true it is. As young people we dream a lot – we dream of a good life with good friends. We dream about being rebellious; we dream about doing unconventional things; we dream about travelling around the world; we dream about a better world not just for ourselves, but for all others.
And then everyone pumps in the message that we need to be ‘rational and pragmatic’. Slowly, our dreams disappear and with that the zest for life. We get up with the feeling of doing things because of obligations, and not because we like them.
And then we feel old.
The key, then, is to keep on dreaming. Dream healthily. Dream about being good. Dream about a better life, a better world.