As a child, there is no other person or thing that is stronger than your parents. I viewed my dad to be the strongest of all dads. I remember kids on the playground would quarrel over “whose dad could beat up whose.” It doesn’t matter if your parents were small and frail, but through the eyes of naivety your parents were invincible. Our parents were gods. As we grew, reality showed that our parents were no stronger than the man or woman next to them. Time passed and our parents became weak and mortal as all humans should be. Even still, I think a lot of times we forget that our parents are everyday average people like ourselves.
In college were always asking ourselves, what we want to do when we graduate. Once we’ve mapped out our lives, we spend so much time focusing on achieving our dreams; we forget how we even got here. Have you ever asked your parents their dreams? What were your parents’ “dream occupation” before they devoted their lives to becoming a full-time guardian?
We forget that are parents had dreams and goals of their own. My mom once told me that she dreamed of becoming a nurse. An occupation she can be proud of, helping those in need. …can anyone guess what she does today? My parents are owners of a small dry cleaners. Sun up to sun down, six days a week, they work diligently to support me and my sister. I see my parents breaking sweat for a job they don’t even want to do and it tears me up inside.
Every day, I look around my dorm and I notice the “north face” jackets hanging from my door knob, or the 22″ HD T.V. sitting across my bed, and I think, “Life’s alright.”I don’t think life is good, but life is alright. Even more absurd is that, I believe having all these possessions are normal, when I should be thanking my parents for all the blessings I have in my life. Something I always need to remember is that my parents have given up their dreams, so I can achieve mine. The caliber of my future success rides more heavily than my first impression. If I fail, I not only fail myself, but my parents. If I succeed, I create something of myself and liberate my parents from their burden of possible regret from giving up their dreams.
More than feeling the pressure, I just want to say…
Thanks Mom & Dad,
Your hardwork and sacrifice is something I won’t ever truly understand.
-Daniel.
Limitless Nothing 