Lookie, Lookie GBD! Vivianne sent us a great blog post that all of us can totally relate to. Thanks Vivianne! If you are interested in writing for GBD send in your stuff at contributor@girlsbydesign.com mmkay? Good. Now, on to the post!

Right now, I am a high school senior about to go to college, which means I’m taking my first steps to an independent life as an adult. At this point in my life, I’m asking myself more questions than I ever would have conceived before.

Who am I?

Am I the 17 year old that I want to be right now?

Am I the type of person I envision myself to be?

What am I going to do in the future, and when I look back on my life, am I going to be proud of my accomplishments?

When I watch videos of celebrities, I hear this line often – “I’m living my dream.” What exactly does this mean? Well, the way I see it, “living your dream” means imagining what you want to be in your life and being or becoming it. We all had our dreams when we were children. When you were a child, someone must have asked you, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” “A doctor.” “An astronaut.” “A fashion designer.” Sure, when you were a child you were way too idealistic about life because you didn’t know anything about the world. So now that you do know what it’s all about, what are your dreams? Because believe it or not, now is the time to make those dreams real.

Don’t you wish that sometime in the future you can look at your life and say, “I’m living my dream,” just like the celebrities do? Of course, your dream doesn’t have to be as far-fetched as becoming a world-renowned actress or famous singer, but this doesn’t mean you don’t have the very same right to set a goal and once you realize it, look at yourself and realize, “This is what I want.”

Take my mom for example. I asked my mom what she wanted to change about her life when she was growing up, and she told me this. When she was growing up, she was bullied by her older siblings and grew up in a family in which her parents were always fighting. Even when she went to college and began working, she wasn’t free from the oppression that came from people stepping on her – she couldn’t speak English fluently and for this reason, she felt no one would listen to what she had to say. There was nothing she wanted more than to start her own family, be respected, and have her own independence. She wanted six kids, a big house, and a job where she was boss.

She had four kids (close enough to six, if you ask me), lives in a big house in a safe area, speaks perfect English, and is a Program Supervisor. She loves her kids, her husband, and her job. To me, she is a role model and the strongest woman figure I know. I tell her, “Mom. Would you say…you’re living your dream?” And she replies to me as if she’s reached an epiphany…“Yes. I guess you could say that.”

So what about you? Do you believe your dreams can become reality? If so, how are you going to make them happen?