How important are dreams?

‘How important are dreams?’

Recalling my childhood time, I often heard my friends nagging to their mother: ‘I want to be a superman,’ ‘I want to be a doctor,’ ‘Mummy, I want to be a singer.’ Yet, all of these are dreams. What are dreams, actually? Here, we talk about dreams not as our mental experiences occurring during sleep but rather our vision and wants for the future. It is my belief that dreams are highly important. Imagine a ship being lost in the ocean and do not know where to go. Without dreams, people will just be like the ship as dreams navigate our ways through lives and give us the strength and aspiration to keep on going.



First of all, dreams provide directions in lives. It is our fortune that there are thousands of opportunities in lives for us to grab and excel. However, we are often confused whist choosing the right path to go. We often ask which way will give us success or which path is a better choice. Thus, we end up consulting others and often, we receive back a question: ‘What do you want?’ It is my opinion that dreams help us to make choices in our lives. Most of us have dreams, and naturally, we strive to achieve our dreams. Dreams simply give us vision and something to work towards to. Helen Keller said that ‘The most pathetic person in the world is the person who has sight, but no vision.’ I personally share the same view because I think a person without dreams will just wander aimlessly through life. Instead, a person with dreams will definitely do a better job of finding and choosing the path he should pursue because he begins with an end in mind. In a world where success is not the matter of chance but the matter of choice, the importance of dreams should not be neglected. 



Moreover, as challenges and obstacles often accompany us in wherever we go, most of us do face boredom and hardship during certain phases. Most of us do not want to succumb to hardship and dreams are essential for giving us the aspiration to keep striving forward. Our success depends on our dreams. Unconsciously, dreams become the fuel to drive us to achieve our desire. Imagine a tired runner is about to give up on his race. What if he sees the finish line so near, right in front of him? Do you think he is still going to give up? The concept of having dreams is more or less similar. Dreams are serious of pictures of our imaginary success created by own mind to allow us to have a taste of fulfillment even before we actually achieve our goal. In that way, we will sustain our stamina and not give up.



Have you ever wondered how scientists make their invention? Take the Wright Brothers, who invented airplane as an example. How could they come up with such unconventional and daring idea to those who lived during that time without dreaming of being able to fly? As the name suggested, dreams are often known as imaginary and unrealistic. However, if all of us always confine ourselves to our conventional way of living, there will not be any advancement in our lives as most inventions sound ridiculous before they were proven possible. In order to venture into a new area, one should have vision or dreams for the future. The dreams must be so strong that they can even break the invisible wall which restricts the human’s potential. Only with dreams can a better future be achieved.



However, having dreams is not equivalent to being a mere idealist. Reality is the basis for dreams to be built. We are living in a professional world. Thus, in order to remain competitive, people should not just spare time to daydream without having a good idea of their current status and the current affairs. Before striving for further achievements and wants, we should always keep our feet on the ground. It is just like building a big house with a weak basement, sooner and later the house will collapse. Without a strong foundation, aiming for a higher level will backfire on us and the person will suffer from great disillusion. Therefore, vision and reality should have equal parts to play in our lives.



Dreams are important to have but what if we have too many dreams at once? It is said that humans have unlimited wants and yet, some of us are so ambitious that we try to chase after many dreams at a time. It will be absolutely fantastic to succeed at achieving many goals but it is always easier said than done. Without consider our own capability and resources, some of us stretch ourselves too hard to the point that none of our dreams are fulfilled. For example, some students take in a lot of responsibilities such as leadership, participation in community involvement program, committing themselves to a combination of content-heavy subjects and so on. They dream of having both good academic and co-curriculum achievements and building an admirable portfolio for future use. However, if they cannot manage their time well, they may encounter serious pitfalls and may fail to achieve any single objectives. Thus, dreams should be well managed with good socializing skills and sound judgment of an individual’s own potential.



In conclusion, it is my belief that dreams are important. However, dreams alone cannot make any positive difference to our lives. They are only constructive to those who have strong will, the potential and the skills to pursue their dreams.