as kids we are told we can be anything.
“even an astronaut?!” the little boy in the back of the class yells.
“yes,” the teacher replies, smiling, “even an astronaut.”
“what about an actress?” we hear the little girl ask shyly.
the teacher nods her head, “whatever any of you decide to be, you can achieve it. become whatever you want to be!”
as teenagers, adults tell us to be apart of what we are passionate about but to look at it realistically.
that little boy is now 15 and he talks to his counsellor about wanting to be an astronaut, “what colleges do you think are best for me to go to space one day?”
she looks at him grimly before answering, “you want to be an astronaut? that takes a lot of college, which is very expensive, and nasa isn’t government funded so you’ll probably be out of a job. maybe we could look into becoming an engineer?”
he nods, saddened, but still has hope.
the little girl is 16 and her parents have sat her down, “sweetie, we just want you to be realistic. everyone wants to be an actress nowadays. do you want to try to go into something simpler, perhaps a doctor?”
she has tears running down her face, and yet, she still has hope
they’re the adults now, both trying to achieve their dreams.
he studied hard to become an astronaut but is now apart of the failing space program, barely making enough money to pay rent.
“son, we just wanted you to be successful. you would’ve been a wonderful engineer!”
his smiles have become less frequent. isn’t this what he wanted? to become an astronaut? it was his dream. wasn’t it?
she still doesn’t have any roles and stays in her parents basement. every night they ask her, “we can still put you through medical school, are you sure you don’t want it?”
she cries herself to sleep because the one thing she’s always wanted has failed her. “i don’t know. i’ll think about it.”
as kids, the adults we look up to say that we can achieve whatever we put our minds to. as teens, they try to push those dreams into compartments to sit their will. as adults, we are looked down upon for following through with the plans we had all along.
what is right? what is wrong? do you take the risk? or move along?
god i wish i knew. i wish we all did. there just isn’t an answer to it and there probably never is.
gummygunk
jimmyeatworldofficial
blakekathryn
pixelskylines
