Follow Your Dreams!

I just read a series of tweets, tweeted by someone very close to me. I guess what she wrote didn’t really surprise me, but I still felt like I need to give my opinion. The tweet said somewhere along the lines of how brown people (referring to people from South Asian descent) do everything only to make their parents happy and not for themselves [not the exact wording]. I agree that most ‘brown’ youth feel that they are limited. They feel like they have to tuck their dreams away and fulfill their parent’s wishes. And most ‘brown’ youth can relate when I say that their parents wanted them to be a doctor, a lawyer, or an engineer. Besides those three professions, everything else was not acceptable.

I, myself, am from South Asian descent. And I guess I kind of understand what they feel. But I am also a girl living in the 21^st century. I know that I can dream big, and work to make my dreams come true. I believe that no one is limited. Every single person has the ability to reach for the stars. You don’t have to tuck your dreams away and take on a journey to please your parents. When you parents say that they want you to be a doctor, a lawyer, or an engineer, it is just their way of dreaming big for you. They are your parents and of course they want you to succeed. But that’s the thing right there… They want you to SUCCEED. It can be anything that you want to do. If you want to be a singer, and you are truly passionate about it and you know that you can succeed, then do not tell me your parents are stopping you. Because that’s one big fat lie. Yes I see a lot of youth taking on a field of study because they feel obligated to make their parents happy. But Really? Because if I was to go into engineering to make my parents happy, man I would have failed miserably.

With brown parents it can be a little tricky. Most are still very old fashioned and traditional. They believe that they know what’s best for you. And to an extent they do. Because of their old fashioned and traditional beliefs, brown youths are too scared to open up to them. They are too scared to tell them “No I despise Mathematics, I really love Psychology” or whatever. And that’s where things go wrong. If you cannot open up to your parents about what your likes and dislikes are, how you expect them to support you with your decision. Really try connecting with your parents. Lay out your case to them. Tell them that you hate whatever they want you to pursue... and that you will fail no matter how hard you try because it is just not where your heart is at. Talk to them. Try to tell them your point of you. And come back to me to tell me how it went. No parents want to see their child fail. If you explain to them your point of view, I am sure that they will support you in whatever you want to do.

Life is too short to be living it for someone else. I am not saying rebel against everything your parents say. Because that will truly make them unhappy. But if they are forcing you to do something that you really don’t want to do… in terms of pursuing a certain field of study, then I say: speak up. Speak up for what you believe in and what you are passionate about. Speak up for your rights of pursuing your dreams. Don’t let your parents dictate your path of life. Ultimately you will be living it for the rest of your life… so it better be worth living. You don’t want to go 10 or 15 years down the road and be despising your parents because you didn’t have it in you to speak up to follow your dreams. It is easy to blame parents for not having the courage. But that’s just it... its lack of courage. Because if you are truly passionate about something, you cannot be blaming your parents. So my darling friends. Stop saying that you are doing things for your parents. Whatever you are doing... you are doing it cause you chose to do it. You are doing it because either you didn’t have it in you to speak up for your beliefs… or you thought that you could eventually fall in love with whatever it may be.

At this point… if you are already pursuing something that you don’t want to… then guess what? IT IS NOT TOO LATE. You can leave whatever you are doing and start fresh. You can pursue your dreams. Because it will better that you realize that you will not be happy now than 10 or 15 years down the road.

This goes out too everyone who feel that they have tucked their dreams away to pursue their parents’ wishes. You have my blessing. Speak up for your beliefs and really follow YOUR dreams.