THE ROLE OF DREAMS AND GOALS FOR THE FUTURE
How adults can help children to identify and follow their dreams and goals.
Dreams are the «fuel» for our lives. They take us from the present to the future and give us hope. Hope and dreams are one of our resources for coping with difficult times, and it is important to allow ourselves to use them.
Conflicts and displacement can involve loss of one’s imagined future, including certain hopes and dreams. It is important to acknowledge and grieve for these losses, and also to start to think about new dreams.
In addition, stress and hardship can narrow our sense of reality. The greater the level of stress, the more we focus on distressing past experiences and difficulties in our present circumstances. Redirecting focus to dreams about the future can be helpful for some adults and children.
Allowing yourself to think about dreams for the future can create joy.
Dreams and creativity can act as a «therapeutic tool» by expanding our focus away from the past to include a desired future.
Dreams bring the future closer, especially if we also add an action plan to them. Dreams with an action plan become«goals».
It is important for us to reconnect with strengths related to:
EXERCISES IN DREAMING
«Steps of Dreams»
We can invite a child to walk the «steps of dreams» and dream not only for themselves but also for others:
- A dream for yourself
- A dream for the closest ones
- A dream for the family
- A dream for friends - classmates - neighbors - community
- A dream for the city
- A dream for the country
- A dream for the world
We, adults, create space and give permission for any manifestation of a child. A conversation about dreams can begin with words:
- «Do you know what I am dreaming about right now?»
- «What will you do first when you hear the word 'HOME'?»
- «What if you had a magic wand to make it happen?»
«Catching Your Dream»
Try this:
- Stand up to your full height, to imagine that you are standing under the starry sky.
- Imagine that each star is our dream.
- Each of them is for us, can be «ours».
- Reach up and take off a star - the one that seems to be «ours» right now.
- Put the star on your chest or in your pocket, saying, «This can be mine, this is mine.»
- And remember that there are many stars, dreams, and desires for us.
Adapted from SPILNOINPL.ORG by UNICEF Poland and UNICEF Ukraine.
