Dreams & Reality

My dreams, when I was young, were quite different to my dreams today. When I was young the world was very different. Much simpler. I just wanted to be happy & free. As a child, I wanted to be secure & loved. I wanted friends to play with & freedom to do that. I didn't understand a lot that was going on around me in the 10 year aftermath of a world war.

As a teenager I wanted to succeed at school, both academically & in sports. I wanted freedom from restriction even more. I was rebellious, but I still wanted approbation. I wanted to be House Captain & a Senior Prefect - I achieved both. I wanted to go to college to get away from a retrictive & controlling mother - Thank goodness I achieved that too, because Grammar school & College shaped me.

As an young adult I always wanted to reform situations I was in & right wrongs. I was headstrong & let my emotions rule my logic sometimes. I wanted the world to be a better, fairer, place. I could see injustice & inequality & wanted to change that for the better. I felt education was the way to achieve that. Then I wanted to be in charge - hence I became a headteacher.

The thing about life is, that if you let it, it will teach you valuable lessons. That is what life is for, a pathway to a better you. By the time you are a better person it's probably too late because people tend not to listen to you when you are old. They think that you are locked in the past.

Now I know more & I can clearly see the path humanity is on. My dreams of a fairer world are frankly shattered. We have made a complete mess of our relationships with eachother & our relationship with the superb ecosystem we live in. We are a destructive species, driven by tribalism, money, power & posessions. That is the reality I see. It isn't pretty & if we don't change our behaviour it will destroy us.

But, we are also a uniquely inventive & intelligent species. We can turn this around. My dream is that we will step back from the edge of the precipice, understand the reality of what we have created & do something about it.

There is the reality, possibly of Armageddon. There is also the dream,  not quite Utopia, but certainly sustainable & equitable.

Which do you choose?