What do you want to be when you grow up? Adults ask this question of unsuspecting minds every day. As a child, my answer changed every day. I did the dance between lawyer, singer, writer, dancer, zookeeper and ice cream tester. What I wish just one adult would have asked was, "Who do you want to be when you grow up?" That question seems like an easier one to answer. I want to be me.

So often our lives get categorized and boxed in by what we do for a living. Certain jobs carry reputations with them that are hard to deny. If I tell people I am a freelance writer, they often respond as if confused. They don't know whether to feel sorry for me, or congratulate me for my huge paycheck. However, when I tell people I'm a teacher, it carries a certain weight. They now have an idea of my tax bracket and even my temperament. These reputations carry hazards for the not quite grown-ups among us. Too often the response for a future ballerina is, "Well, that's not entirely realistic, have you thought about..." It seems ridiculous to ask a young star to squeeze into a box so early in life. We all want our children to be happy, so why would we encourage them to find an easier dream and leave theirs behind?

Shouldn't the focus on a child's future be more internal than a tax bracket? Should we, as the grown-ups be the ones to sort these young minds into lifelong pigeon holes? The answer is a resounding, NO! As human beings we have the capacity for unlimited potential. We have the ability to reach new heights, reach the stars and pave our own ways in life. The importance of life should never be on what you do to earn a paycheck but rather the person you became in getting to where you are. Do you love others? Do you try to help whenever you see a need? Do you take time to see the world for all the beauty it contains? These are the questions we should ask of ourselves and our children.

Most of the grown ups I know can look back and say, "I wanted to be a..., but that just wasn't very realistic." Dreams and ambitions get shuffled to the side to make room for a more practical lifestyle. Would it be so bad to let a child be impractical and encourage them in their dreams?

As for me, a writer/teacher/sometimes waitress, I still don't know for sure what I want to be when I grow up. (Although, technically I became a grown up long ago.) What I do know is that whatever I do for a living, It'll be me doing it. Just me and my dreams, not letting the categories or the boxes hold me back. When it comes down to it, isn't that the answer we all want to give?

Learn more about this author, Marissa M. Carter.
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