Adulthood: Dreams Becoming Possibilities

I realized something new today.  As we start going to college we go through lots of big transitions.  The transitions of living with other people, living alone, living in a new place, experiencing new kinds of people, getting a taste of the real world without being under the shelter of our parents' wings.  But there's also another, bigger transition we go through.  When we change from being a child to being an adolescent or an adult, we not only experience aging but also a change of mindset.  As children, we live in the 'dream' mindset.  We fantasize about silly things, pretend that we are older, and dream about what we may become when we grow up.  A little further down the road, we start realizing our goals, and the dreams we had when we were younger start to get a little clearer.

But the real transition happens around the time we go to college.  As children we may have known what we 'wanted to be' when we grew up, but it was never really possible to actually achieve this dream.  But, as an adult, we are given the freedom to make our dreams a reality.  It is at this age that we realize what we will become, and we have so many options to make it happen.  Whether we want to get married and start a family, pursue a career to the fullest extent, make beautiful music, or change the world, all of the doors are opened to us.  When we become adults the world is at our fingertips and we are given the option of seizing it.