Why Your Childhood Dreams Are So Important to Understanding Yourself

Photo by Shannon Moore

I think we're missing out on something we had right as kids.

Do you remember all those grand dreams you used to have? Do you remember the way it made you feel to pretend they were true? 

It was one of the most incredible feelings in the world. It felt like you had somehow escaped into the world you belonged in, all along.

I don't care how stupid the dreams were. 

I don't care if they were dreams of knights and princesses. Or wizards and magic. Or Jedi and Star Wars (yes, you leave the "s" off Jedi). Or even Dragonball Z and all that anime stuff. 

I know you wished you could be something else. Something greater. Something magical.

We all did.

And somewhere along the way, we lost sight of it... what we really wanted.

The Lost Dreams of Your Childhood

If you've seen the movie Mr. Deeds, you might remember the part at the end in the stockholder's meeting. Adam Sandler asks a guy what he used to want to be when he grew up. "Veterinarian" was the answer. Why?

"I wanted to help sick animals," the guy said.

"And what do you do now?"

"I own a slaughter house."

A slaughter house. There's not much farther away you can get from a veterinarian.

I'm not going to lie, that part is so funny it almost makes me pee my pants. But it's got an eerie effect on me now... Maybe because I know how easy it is for this to happen to people. To happen to me.

Have you noticed that many old people are crabby and miserable, while most kids are carefree and blissful? Why do you think that is?

Could it be that many adults have lost the freedom that was so apparent to them as kids? That they've allowed bondage to overtake them?

We call it "growing up." We call it "getting realistic."

I call it loss.

And I don't think it has to do with jobs. I think it's something spiritual. I think we settle for something in a spiritual way -- a worse existence than God wants for us.

Maybe What Was Alive in Us as Kids Isn't Dead.

Think about what you wanted to be. What does it mean about you? What did you really want?

• Did you want to be an astronaut? Maybe you wanted to explore the unknown. Maybe you wanted to go on an adventure. Maybe you wanted to experience something thrilling, something you've never experienced before.

• Did you want to be a princess? Maybe you wanted to be desired. Maybe you wanted to know for sure you were truly valuable. Maybe you wanted to be an important part of things...

• Did you want to be a firefighter? Maybe you wanted to be a hero to an entire nation.  Maybe you wanted to earn the love and respect of everyone. Maybe you wanted to preserve the beauty in this world from the things that are trying to destroy it. 

• Did you want to be a knight in shining armor? Maybe you wanted to defeat an enemy for someone you love. Maybe you wanted to save a pretty girl. Maybe you wanted her to love you in return.

Could it be that you're still longing for these things?

I think it's a mistake to give up on them.

Because at its core, none of it is bad. This is the stuff we were made for.

And I'm not talking about the occupations. Obviously, nobody's going to pay you to be a knight in shining armor (unless you want a job as a college mascot, of course... and if you do, far be it from me to tell you how to live your life). I'm talking about what's under the occupations. 

Ever Wonder Why You Don't Connect With God? This Might Be Why. 

If you're too afraid to allow yourself to long, then there's nothing for him to fill.

What if God wants to connect with you in those deep places you used to dream about but gave up on?

What if you let yourself dream that again for a bit, and followed the rabbit hole to see where it took you?

I'm not saying quit your job to be an astronaut. I mean look for what your "True Self" was longing for, that was surfacing as wanting to be an astronaut.

Once you've figured out the core of your longing, you've figured out something you want from God.

And guess what -- I think he wants to give it to you.

Maybe not in the way you're thinking... but if He put a deep longing in you, He meant to fill it.

Somehow, life always seems to take us to the opposite end of the spectrum from God's Original Design for us. Barely anyone ever understands what they were truly made for. And I think it's because we don't understand our most raw desires as humans.

I think God is waiting to fill those places in us.

Honestly, I don't know exactly what this looks like for everyone. I just know my truest dreams have been a reflection of the things my deepest self has been intensely longing for all along. And maybe knowing more about that... would get us closer to connecting with God in the passionate way we've always longed to.

What might your childhood dreams be saying about what you really want?