Children are born dreamers. As a father of two young girls, I see it every day. They let their imaginations take them to wild places:
Dad, I want to be a dinosaur when I grow up!
Can we go to the moon?
I still remember my childhood dreams. When I was just 5, my parents took me to see Superman. After that, I wanted to do nothing but fly. My mother made me a red cape which I wore around the house. I also dreamed of visiting the places I read about in books and saw on National Geographic. I dreamt of being an astronaut and flying F16 fighter jets.
As I grew older, the dreams evolved and became more rational. By the age of 12 or so, I thought it would be great to be a commercial airline pilot. As a teen, I accepted that my lack of good vision stifled all dreams of flying. I let them go.
And then you grow up
Real life has a funny way of squashing dreams. You go to school, develop a skill, get a job (not flying anything), find a mate and possibly have children. You buy a house in the suburbs and a couple cars. At work, you try to get ahead of other humans for 8 to 10 hours every day. You take a week off for vacation a couple times per year. Maybe you work harder than your co-workers, become a vice-president, buy a big house and a fast car. After 40 years, you move to a warm place to live out the rest of your days. Your body and mind will be past their prime, but hopefully in good enough condition so that you may enjoy your remaining time.
But what became of those dreams? The answer is simple: You let them go when you became an adult. The responsibilities and pressures of life pushed your dreams aside.
Dare to dream
I’ve charted a short course for Financial Independence. I worked hard, but invested the money instead of buying stuff. I’ve made errors (“Hello 4000+ square foot home!”), but I’m on solid footing now. I’ll be free in less than two years and it feels good.
My dreams are coming back. Of course, they aren’t the same as the ones I had as a child, but that doesn’t make them any less worthy. In the next couple years, my family and I will travel to the Northeastern United States and spend months exploring the coasts of Maine, the woods of Vermont and Washington DC. Another year, we’ll spend the same amount of time in the Pacific Northwest. I dream of reading and writing. I dream of teaching my children to code.
Financial Independence has a way of taking the pressures and stresses of life away. I no longer worry about money. I no longer have nightmares about losing my job. I no longer care if the neighbors think less of me because my car was made in 2003. I’m a better person.
Best of all, I can dream once again.
Do you still remember the dreams you had as a child?
I still dream, but like you they have evolved over the years. My super hero dreams have long past, I’m looking towards our future now. I love listening to my children share their unfiltered hopes and dreams too.
Brian @DebtDiscipline recently posted…Fanatic
Children are the best! The stuff that comes out of their mouths often reminds me how jaded I am and how far I’ve drifted from the person I really want to be.
Nice post 1500s, and great pictures of Chicago. I wouldn’t want to live there for long, but came to enjoy the city when my wife was in grad school. You guys are taking concrete steps toward financial freedom, which is great!
As for my dreams, sadly they’ve been on hold for a couple years. My wife would say that we have other priorities, but let’s call it what it is…..we took our eye off the ball. Life is short. A couple weeks ago a guy at work hammered that point home when he had a stroke in a staff meeting. His boss was yelling at him, and he just had a stroke right there and then…..in the meeting. He’s 3 months from retirement, and thankfully there wasn’t any permanent damage, but how much clearer can you get. Don’t take your eye off the ball!
-Bryan
Income Surfer recently posted…Time and Money
Chicago is wonderful! It’s changed so much since I was a child.
Whoah, that is a wicked story. Glad the stroke didn’t cause permanent damage.
I definitley still dream. Sometimes I still have my childhood dreams of flying and super strength like superman. But those usually only come out when I am watching the latest marvel movie.
Actually if you ever have a chance Ted X Education has some great videos on what super powers would really be like.
http://blog.ted.com/what-if-superpowers-were-real-a-series-of-ted-ed-lessons-explores-the-science-of-flight-super-speed-invisibility-and-more/
But like others most of my dreams are grounded by reality, at least to me. Some still think I am pretty nuts.
To be honest I think that anyone in our space that dares to live differently has a higher capacity to dream. If you can keep the dreaming muscle engaged, your minds creativity will be off the charts. There will be no problem you can’t solve.
I would love to sit down and have a chat with Elon Musk to see what his dreams are.
Cheers!
Dominic (Gen Y Finance Guy) recently posted…Freedom Fighter Interview #15 – Cash Flow Diaries
Yeah, I come up with my best material when I let my imagination run wild!
I’ll bet Musk would say something about Mars.
Dominic – One blogger actually had a chance to sit with Elon Musk and ask him about his dreams. Specifically Tesla and SpaceX.
Check out http://waitbutwhy.com
He dreams of saving humanity from extinction by saving us from fossil fuels and relocating parts of humanity to a second planet as a ‘backup plan’ in case something happens on earth.
The whole thing is so crazy, I can’t even ‘dream’ about this. The articles are long but are amazing reads!
I’ve always been dreaming. But, like you, my dreams have changed. I’m pretty sure I’ll ever go back to working in live entertainment, but it’s hard to image never being involved with music again.
Last night, I hear about this folk singer, Joan Shelley, from Kentucky. And I swear I fell in love with folk music all over again. Next thing I knew, I was scouring the internet for live performances, videos, and stuff I may not have heard yet.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to the day when I don’t have to worry about money or building a career. And maybe then I can dip my toes back into that world. But probably not until then.
Sometimes when I hear about others’ childhoods, I feel like I’m living life in reverse ala Benjamin Button. I was the kid that dreamed of being an accountant, then (when I learned what one was), an actuary. Seriously, these were my dreams at 10 years old.
But Mr PoP helped teach me how to dream. And now, it’s dreams of (literally) sailing off into the sunset someday in the not-too-distant future. As long as we don’t change our minds and chase some other dream, we’ll get there. =)
Mrs PoP @ Planting Our Pennies recently posted…Our Version of Frugal
Mrs. PoP, that is awesome! I think an actuary would be a great career! If I had known about it before college, I’m pretty sure that I may have pursued it.
Mr. PoP is a wise man.
C’mon, what’s wrong with being an accountant?!
I was actually considering a career in IT (maybe programming?), but ended up choosing accounting. With a lot of these jobs you never really know what you’re getting yourself in for, so if you end up in something you actually like (or at least don’t hate) then you are lucky indeed.
As exciting as being an accountant is (is he serious?), I have dreamt of retirement since I first read rich dad poor dad in my late teens. I don’t think I ever wanted to be a fireman or superman though – maybe I really was meant to be an accountant?!
InsiderAccountant recently posted…Self-sufficiency – it’s all about attitude!
1500,
Crazy how you just posted about this. Last week, after yet another one, I posted about my three recurring nightmares (http://www.retire29.com/is-your-life-up-in-the-air/) and how they are the primary force driving me to early retirement. So, I guess that answers the question: yes, I dream, but they’re usually nightmares.
Those adult dreams you’re having now sound pretty awesome—getting into nature tends to slow life down and create freedom within your own head. Good on you. If you’re in the DC area, I’ll owe you a beer for featuring me in 10 Questions.
Eric
Retire29 recently posted…The $9.54 a Month iPhone Plan
Very interesting! I took a look at your nightmares and I can definitely relate. I used to have nightmares about getting fired or being broke. The good news is that those nightmares have gone away as I’ve approached FI. I hope they go away for you too.
Most adults completely forget about their childhood dreams. They let the day to day grind of life blind them. I’m with you. I’ve got new dreams from childhood and pursue them relentlessly.
Adam @ AdamChudy.com recently posted…What I’m Reading
Right on brotha!
That’s a very interesting topic. I’m 35 and still dream a lot, mostly good dreams 🙂 I agree, peace of mind during day time is a great pillow for night time!
In one of my posts I talked about the “eating money dream” ( http://wp.me/p6wEGK-H ), apparently that’s a very common nightmare :/
Here is a famous quote that I love, which can be applied to achieving FI:
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” – Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Awesome quote!
And whoah, I’ve never dreamed of eating money!!
This reminds me of my niece. The other day she told me she wanted to be a Frozen Mermaid (like powers from the movie Frozen and also a Mermaid, not a Mermaid stuck in a block of ice). I wanted to be an astronaut when I was young, then I wanted to be an archaeologist (well really more of a paleontologist, I wanted to find dinosaur bones). I like the career I have chosen because there is so much wonder in chemistry, even if my job doesn’t entail a whole lot of the wonder part. Dreams are great. It is great to dream big or small. I think when people don’t have financial independence, they can become too distracted and forget about their dreams.
It is a wonderful gift to enjoy your career! I agree that chemisty is pretty great too. I really enjoyed the organic part. It was challenging, but I loved learning about all of the reactions and the thinking required to really understand it.
Chair configuration! Aromatic compounds!!
I confess I did stop dreaming for myself. I felt my life was for everyone else. Oh the responsibilities.
But now I do dream! But I am dreaming of just 2 things. 1 year off traveling with the family and developing a location independent business.
The Roamer recently posted…Weekly Pain & Gain: Kids and Money
It’s great to read something like this, I have been caught by the work hard to advance bug and have been doing less dreaming and less thoughts of FI. I always wanted to be a professional athlete, reality hit me in college, but it was a great dream.
Even Steven recently posted…The Really Quite Good Guide to Negotiating Your Comcast Xfinity Cable and Internet Bill
Unfortunately, my dreams at night have become nightmares. These dreams tend to bring back past mistakes or worst yet, having to go back to work for a horrible employer at the lowest level job. Fear that we lost everything we saved. 🙁
On a brighter note, our dreams or goals during the waking hours are much more pleasant. We are only a year away from leaving paid employment for good, to begin the next adventurous chapter in our lives. 🙂
Bryan @ Just One More Year recently posted…RV Solar: The Circle of Light
When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was grow up and have a career. Strange, now I have a career and all I dream about is running away.
Savvy Financial Latina recently posted…Balancing Wants
I don’t have that final picture of where I want to be yet. All I know is that I want the means, via financial independence, to be in a place where I can work it out. I flick from wanting the whole homestead experience like yourself to wanting to stay in the city. I’m still young so I suppose that’s fairly natural. It’s like I’ve got my penultimate destination (early retirement) stuck into the Sat-Nav and then I just need to work out where to end up.
Was it chicken or egg for you? Did you want to be financially independent first and then decided the homestead was the best fit for that lifestyle or did you want the homestead first and decided that becoming financially independent was the best way to get it?
Homestead! This must be one for the Frugalwoods! In any case, I’m honored to be mixed up with them as they’re fantastic!
It was! Last time I try to read two blogs at once. I promise you’ll have my undivided attention next time 😛
When I was a very young lad I wanted to be a fire engine. Yep that’s right a fire truck not a fireman! Still, an eerie prediction of my adult dreams of reaching FIRE perhaps?! Hmmmm?! 🙂
theFIREstarter recently posted…away in august expenses report and market crash net worth update!
I definitely still dream but they have moved from things like being a superhero/professional baseball player to more realistic items like whitewater rafting in Colorado, visiting different countries, or even just working less and living more.
Great post! Always a great reminder to not stop dreaming!
Thias @It Pays Dividends recently posted…4 Reasons to Always Keep Some Cash
I like to think that your “dreams” morph into “goals” as you get older. You begin to realize that you need to take active steps to make your dreams come true. It becomes more of a concrete idea that is up ahead of you instead of an abstract “dream”. I think that’s the difference between kids and adults – but not sure when that transition takes place. I bet the sooner a person comes to realize that their “dreams” are completely in their hands, and the sooner they categorize those “dreams” as “goals”, then the more likely it is that they reach those “dreams” . . . but, that’s just an opinion, based not on facts. Would be an interesting study, though!
Also, props for the Chicago Bean!
-DP
DP @ Someday Extraordinary recently posted…The Opportunity Cost of Fantasy Football
I never comment, but I HAD to post this, I thought of it as soon as I saw the title.
Dennis: I am having – this is crazy! – I’m having feelings again. I’m like some kind of fourteen year old kid or something! I mean, you remember feelings, right?
Mac: … Yeah. I have feelings every single day of my life.
Dennis: Do you?
Mac: Are you saying you don’t have feelings?
(From It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUzBK5O3wBM
I think it’s important to dream, even after you’ve reached FIRE. As they say “it costs nothing to dream but everything not to.”
Steve Miller recently posted…Wanderlust began 26 Years ago
It’s easy to get caught up in your life and stop dreaming. I think it’s good for the soul. I look at my two boys (age 2 and 4) and they look at the world with such incredible imagination. My dreams these days are a bit more realistic, but I strive to dream about the great things the future holds. It keeps me motivated!
Dane Hinson recently posted…Top 5 Financial Successes in my 20’s
When I was very young, I dreamt of being a policeman. Later, in high school, I think, I got it in my head that I was just going to move to the Bay Area, be a waiter, adopt a kid, and raise him on my own in a little apartment, like some weird eighties sitcom. I think the ship’s sailed on the latter one, now that I have a wife, but I still think it might be neat to try a totally different career after hitting FI.
Maybe it’s not too late to patrol a beat…
Done by Forty recently posted…When a Sprinter Hits the Wall
Unfortunately, I think I’ve lost the ability to dream about unrealistic things. Kids are awesome at this: “Can we go to the moon?” is a good one.
But you are right that this is maybe something that we need to practice. Maybe something to add to my morning routine to see how it goes 🙂
TheMoneyMine recently posted…Set Yourself Up for Success and Join The Million Dollar Club
To me, dreaming is a sign of ambition. We should not stop dreaming because we’re grown-ups, we can achieve anything if we truly want to =)
Alan C recently posted…Cysec Admits They Are Investigating Ironfx