All of us have some a dream. We think about it, we breathe it, we dream it. We take every single opportunity to make it come true. And if we reach it? We feel like we're on top of the world. We feel and we are invincible.
But then someone asks you what's your biggest dream and you excitedly tell them and they laugh at your face. The smile is instantly wiped off your face and you feel like you've been slapped. They finaly stop laughing and simply say "Good luck with that." and take a sip of their wine.
You get out of there as soon as you can and take a long walk to collect your thoughts. You've just opened up to someone and they mocked you- your dream. You feel bad for one night and the next day you're fine but you never look at that person that mocked you the same way. You just can't take them seriously anymore because they can't take you seriously.
Here's why it's not alright to discourage someone to pursue their dream:
1. They will lose all respect for you
Because you've obviously no respect for them by mocking their dream. By saying stuff like "You won't make it." or "You don't have what it takes to do it." you're not showing them reality but bringing them down. Yes, it's a tough world out there. Yes, it's hard to reach your dreams. But you aren't doing anyone a favor by telling them they aren't good enough. This shows you don't respect them because you're basically insulting their whole being. So, naturally, they'll do the same for you- they won't bring you down if they're mature but don't expect them to ever open up to you. It just won't happen because they know they can't count on you to be positive.
2. They might have low self esteem
And maybe you're not the first person to bring them down. What's the cause of that low self esteem? Could be a number of things but the important thing is that you're tearing apart a already torn paper. Maybe they come from a bad family and they don't have any support and their dream is their only hope to get away from them. To make something out of themselves. Perhaps they've heard their parents tell them they can't do it plenty of times and you'll be just adding more salt on the wound. What if their dream could actually make a difference in this world? What if they could save someone's life? And what if you could be the very person who could push them up but instead you're pushing them down.
The possibilities are endless. The point is that if you don't have anything nice to say and isn't constructive criticism, then it's better not to say anything. Be their support if you want but don't bring them down because you'll be making a difference by choosing not to burst their idea.
In the end, you should follow your dream regardless of what's someone saying about it because you owe yourself to give it a shot.
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