While we're living, the dreams we have as children fade away

Yes... I stole the title from an Oasis track... Why? Because it sparked thoughts... good ones... and that's my point!

All too often we stop dreaming... stop wishing and hoping... Instead we settle for 'more of the same'... we become predictable... and stop believing that we can actually achieve so much more...we have the ability to actually achieve our dreams.

Cast your mind back to your school days...when an adult asked you what you wanted to be when you grown up...you had wild dreams about being a fireman or fighter pilot...nurse or professional footballer...nothing could stop you...you acted out your profession using anything you could find...boxes, cups, pipe cleaners, sticky back plastic...and let your imagination run wild...and there's the key thing to it all...letting your imagination run...let it be free to explore what could be...what CAN be.


Our lives these days don't allow for us to let our imaginations run wild... we get suppressed by corporate'ness... the hierarchy telling us how it must be done...to not think out the box...just get on with it.  We also have our own insecurities about how things might not work out...about the consequences...'oh no...I can't do that, I need to get a proper safe job'.  Now I'm not advocating stupidity or recklessness...we all need to pay the bills and ensure we take care of our responsibilities, but why should that mean that we have to settle for doing something we don't enjoy?  Why must we spend the best part of 50 years, day in day out, doing something that doesn't give us a sense of fulfillment...a sense of purpose...but more importantly, has a sense of fun and enjoyment about it to keep us interested, to keep us sane...to make us feel like we are actually living for a purpose and not just 'being'?

If for example, you had dreams of becoming a professional cricketer or designer then why not give it a go...why not at least try to understand your potential?  If you simply dismiss it, how will you ever know?  You could be the next Freddy Flintoff...or Vivien Westwood...the point is, if you never at least give it a go, you'll live with a lifetime of regret...how many people do you know that say to you 'Oh I'd love to have been a musician'...I challenge you to challenge them...ask them 'Did you ever give it a go?  Did you ever at least try it?  Now if they say yes, then I'd expect you to carry on the conversation in a positive way and ask how it went, what did they try, etc... but if...as I suspect, they say 'No'...then I challenge you to push them...not in a negative way...but ask them what stopped them at the time...why didn't they give it a go...and more to the point...it's never too late to give most things a try!!!

I've come to realise that sometimes we don't always know what we want to be when you're growing up.  But did I worry?  Honestly...yes I did...but should I have?  Honestly...No...why?  Well, because I wasn't exposed to many new things whilst growing up, I wasn't given opportunities to try lots of different sports or activities like children of today seem to.  Has that stopped me dreaming?  Quite simply...no.

As my passion for golf has grown over the years, I have dreamn't of being involved in golf in some way.  I feel truly at peace when I'm on a golf course...whether be playing or caddying...I feel like I was meant to be there...like I've found my calling.  Did I feel this way when I was working in a 'Proper Job'?  Close...but not quite...I did take huge pleasure from helping people...but I've come to realise that It was not truly making me happy...I felt I had so much more to give.

So I implemented change...I got myself more involved in golf...I essentially put myself in as many situations as I could involving golf that meant that I could experience and learn.  The more situations you put yourself in, the more likely it is that something good will come of it.  I would never be doing the caddying on the PGA Euro Pro Tour had I not put myself in a situation to make it happen...no one was going to call me up and say 'Hey Lee, would you like to come and caddy for me'...I did not wait for it to come to me, I went out there and went after it.

So think long and hard about what it is that you'd like to do, but don't stress if you don't know what it is you want to do...it will come...but as I said in one of my previous blogs...'Live for the now, Keep saying yes'...live...experience...and be happy...let that inner child in you dream!