Julia Armstrong: Running To Learn (ePub)

Once upon a time...We all knew what we wanted to do. We all knew who we wanted to be. As children we knew, our heart called us and we knew. Maybe when our parents were young, they knew too, but our parents were often brought up by people who also once knew who they were and what they wanted - but then they forgot, or were told that they wanted different things, things which weren't in tune with the calling of their heart. They were told that they were not permitted to act like this or be like that, that they were not allowed to be themselves. In the name of being 'good' and in order to 'earn love' they lost or disowned those parts of themselves, creating instead a way of being that was acceptable to the adults around them and a way of doing that earned them approval. They forgot what they truly wanted and their heart and soul cried out still. But the cries grew faint until eventually they were heard no more. There may have been an occasional stirring - a sound, a thought, a feeling when weeping in a movie or when reading a book. 'That could have been me... No, not for me. Dreams are for others. Not me.' And so, in forgetting their own dreams and in ceasing to listen to their own heart, they have had no chance to learn the skills to teach us to listen to ours. When as a child we expressed a desire to do what we loved most - maybe to sing or dance, or to fly an aeroplane, it was often dismissed as childish fantasy. A child only, too young to know their own mind.