The child you were could desire and dream but didn’t know how to translate dreams into reality. That’s the job of the adult — your job.
A mother finished shopping at a downtown department store with her four-year-old son.
As she headed for the exit, they passed the toy department.
On an end counter was a shiny red wagon with wooden sides and rubber tires.
The little boy was instantly smitten by this beautiful wagon and stopped to look at it.
He felt its smooth red wooden sides and black rubber tires with shiny white and red hubcaps.
It was the most beautiful wagon he had ever seen.
He wanted it.
His mother told him that it was time to go.
She took his hand and began leading him away from the toy department towards the store exit.
He didn’t want to go. He said that he wanted the red wagon.
His mother told him that they couldn’t get it. They had to go.
The boy cried that he wanted the red wagon.
She said “no” and tried to pull him away.
He collapsed on the floor.
“I want the red wagon,” he screamed.
His mother hoisted him to his feet and dragged him out of the store.
He embarrassed her.
His mother always bragged that he was such a well-behaved boy.
Now he was crying about the red wagon all the way to the subway station.
People watched as a determined woman dragged her screaming child through the crowded streets and into the station.
The little boy continued to cry, “I want the red wagon,” over and over again on the crowded subway ride.
His mother was humiliated by her son’s behavior.
They got to their train stop and walked the four blocks to their apartment building.
They lived on the third floor of a three-story building with no elevator.
The boy lamented his lost wagon and continued crying.
They climbed the stairs.
His mother turned the key and opened the door.
Payback time had finally arrived!
Strangely, the grown man who was that boy doesn’t remember what she did to him.
Whether she beat him, spanked him, lectured him, or did a combination of all three, he doesn’t remember.
It’s blocked from his consciousness, submerged in his psyche.
But, from that moment on he didn’t dare desire something as much as that red wagon.
His I-must-have-it-at-all-costs desire had been driven out of him.
He forgot about the red wagon until many years later when he was in a downtown store.
He came across the exact duplicate of the wagon with the removable wooden sides, black rubber tires, and white and red hubcaps.
He was now forty-three years old.
Suddenly, he had to have that red wagon.
This time he didn’t need to seek anyone’s approval but his own.
He reached into his wallet, pulled out a charge card and bought the red wagon on the spot.
His childhood desire to have that red wagon had taken thirty-nine years to be fulfilled.
Desire and passion are crucial to your well-being.
If you were brought up to squelch your desire, it’s time to reinvent yourself.
You have one life.
This is your chance to achieve the life you want for yourself.
Your life span is your opportunity to translate your dreams into reality.
Since your life span is limited, focusing on rational dreams and desires is vital.
Dream translation is what adults are all about.
The child that you were could desire and dream but didn’t know how to translate dreams into reality.
That is the job of the adult — your job.
The problem is that you can lose sight of your dreams, or not think they’re possible.
You can reestablish the connection with your childhood dreams and translate them into adult reality — if they are still worthwhile.
You need to believe that your dreams are possible, or you will not attempt them.
Dreams are what give zest and joy to your life.
In the movie Flashdance, the main character, a young woman trying to get accepted to a prestigious dance school, is told by her lover not to give up.
“If you give up your dream, you die,” he said to her.
In a sense, when you give up your dreams your self dies slowly.
Don’t let it happen to you.
Fight for your dreams.
Find your Red Wagon.
—
How can you accelerate your passion, purpose, and talents?
That’s our focus.
—
Ken West is the author of Get What You Want, later republished as Achieve Your Purpose.
