Who needs realism?

Over the last three years I have become more realistic as a person. Whether this was intentional I am yet to know, but it is an attribute that comes with growing up and one that unfortunately cannot be avoided.

Realism affects our ambitions, our hopes and dreams. That's why children are encouraged to fantasise, create stories and fuel their imagination in every way possible. Their innocence, determination and positivity is short lived. By adulthood it is replaced, by responsibility, cynicism and realism.

Often having a realistic outlook is beneficial. It is part of self-preservation, by enclosing ourselves in the idea of realism we expect to be disappointed, rejected and confused. That way we do not set our sights above our reach and can be pleasantly surprised on the rare occasions when our negativity is proved false.

However, realism can also cause extreme bitterness as it can vanquish the purity of undiluted ambition and prevent the desire to succeed. Many of us give up before we have begun, not because we don't believe we can do it, but because the stakes are too high and the statistics are against us. Therefore we provide the excuse that we are just being realistic.

I have uttered the previous sentence on many occasions in the last year, but when someone asked where my ambition had gone, I thought it was still intact just slightly matured. I was wrong it had been worn, eaten away by the need to grow up and think of the obtainable.

What is realism anyway? It is defined as 'a concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary' in the dictionary. So a dream is now considered impractical. Haven't they missed the point? The whole idea of dreaming is to reach for something more, something you cant see, something that you may never reach but at least you tried.

That is the point, to try. To endeavour to reach your own goals however unachievable they seem on a daily basis. However realistic we are, we cannot foresee the future. We do not know what reality may throw back at us. How do we know if reality as we know it even exists at all? We don't.

So next time you really really want something that's slightly out of reach, dont accept that it is too difficult and impractical. Just ask youself, 'Who needs realism?'