Humans are mostly self-centered creatures, but sometimes we get the notion that we are all connected and we want to make a difference.

I have that notion. It’s a strong feeling, an urge to do something bigger than myself, beyond the limits of my skin and my little mind. If you have felt it too then don’t fight it; instead give it your full attention, let it grow and let it become what it was meant to become.

Writing this article opens the door for my big dream, yearning to get out and become reality.

It’s crazy, seemingly impossible, and by admitting this I am possibly setting myself up for official failure. On the other hand, taking no risks would strangle innovation and thus exclude the possibility of this great dream coming true. More than just telling you about my dream, I want to encourage anyone with a dream to pursue it.

These days the focus is on how profitable we are (money-wise) and how we are perceived. Whatever you dream about will bring you success, not the other way around. Think about it, do you believe financial success and material wealth will lead you to be truly happy and fulfilled? Or rather, that pursuing your dream and being all you can be could lead to happiness, fulfilment and success?

If you think the first option is right, think again… Gandhi did not first become famous and then lead his people to protest against the English colonists. Martin Luther King did not succeed through ignoring his dream, on the contrary, it was his dream that lead to triumph.

Do what you dream of doing, what you do best, and you will be happy and success will follow automatically.

More people are starting to realize that happiness comes before success, yet we still teach children that they need to get good grades in subjects society deems important for economic growth.

We still teach them to be copies of each other and force them to swallow their individuality. We still teach children that multiplying and dividing comes before doing what makes you happy, and that reading and writing is far more important than respecting your friends. We still allow children to be bullied at school, as we make them memorize all the countries of the world.

We forget to teach them about love, about self worth, about having dreams and about happiness. We forget this because most of us have forgotten about love, self worth, dreams and happiness ourselves.

Instead of promoting creativity, choice and open-mindedness, we prioritize whatever society has brainwashed us to highlight. We give children a narrow list of things they have to be good at in order to succeed in the future without even understanding why.

All of this leads to my dream… my big dream of teaching about love, respect, forgiveness, dreams and everything that life entails. I dream of teaching others and continuing to learning so I have even more to teach. I dream of a school where teachers are primarily devoted to their own dream, so that they are happy and share this happiness with their students.

I dream of a world where every person pursues their dream, finds happiness, shares it with everybody else.

I dream of a world where success is just another word for growing in joy.

This needs to become our reality for the world to evolve.

But we must remember that structure is an important component of love. In freeing people of all ages to be who they are, we cannot forget that hands need to be held and that academic subjects are highly useful (and even crucial) once they are unlocked with the keys of self exploration and self love.

In allowing children to think, study, play and even be outside the box we need to be strict; catch them when they are straying too far from themselves, not from what we expect and want them to be.

We need to be mentors with authority in their journey towards self-fulfilment. We need to encourage creativity and awaken curiosity in the learning process. We need to make room for spontaneity in the midst of rules and schedules. We need to concentrate on achieving goals and overcoming obstacles.

Rather then injecting fear of failure, we need to explain that mistakes are part of the process as long as you learn from them. We need to encourage what has been successfully done instead of enlarging and encircling errors. We should never let anyone do less or be less than they can.

No more people should have regrets before they die; we need to learn from death way before it hits us.

We need to listen to the message it is sending us, constantly reminding us that we are alive! Death tells us to live fully while we can, so why not do whatever makes us the happiest and make others happy too? Why not embrace are uniqueness and be everything we can be, do what we do best through love, peace and compassion?

Let’s help children realize from the moment they are born what it took life times for most people to understand… or shall I say, help them remember  because we all know what happiness is as children but most are, sadly, educated away from it.

It is time to recruit the real teachers of life; the ones who never stop learning because they know that one can never stop growing no matter how old you get. Because they know that if you are on the right path, it will never end. The path is the end itself.

I told you my dream was crazy, seemingly impossible and grand. Now please help me make it come true by dreaming big and pursuing even bigger.

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Assistant Editor: Jennifer Moore/Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo: Agoes Antara/Pixoto, elephant journal archives