Childhood is often called a wonderful time. Perhaps it is. But I'm inclined to think that childhood is a time of distorted perception. What in reality turns out to be simple seems complex and hard. Adults who haven't achieved much in life can be seen as authorities to look up to.
It's especially interesting to look at childhood goals that carry over into adult life and stay with us. Personally I don't remember any goals I set as a child that still matter to me today. Maybe that's because as a child I didn't set myself any big goals. Still, I'm sure there are people for whom childhood dreams are still relevant.
Besides goals there are obligatory (or almost obligatory) events we have to go through. In childhood we imagine them quite differently, often naively. Our ideas are shaped by stereotypes and limited knowledge.
I for one wanted to finish school as soon as possible and go to a college far from textbooks and books. Imagine my surprise when at college, on top of textbooks and books, there was a strict regime. The teachers were tougher than at school, and you had to be ready to do practical and lab work at any time, even on 1 September. Failure meant paid retakes, so the first months of the first year were a very hard period for me.
Driving school and getting my licence went smoothly — by then I'd already done three years at college, so I was mentally hardened to any sudden stressful situations. But I'd guess there are people who as children had illusions about how great it would be to have a licence and drive a car, and in adult life ran into many factors they hadn't considered: you have to learn a lot of theory, you take on extra responsibility as a full road user, you can't afford a car and have to save for ages, you pay for petrol with real money not "kid currency" (plantain leaves), and cars can break down, including in the middle of nowhere. Is that how many people imagined having a licence and a car when they were kids?
Another case, more down-to-earth, which we faced with my wife — the wedding. Guys on the whole don't have many illusions or plans around it; girls are another matter. As children they imagine it as a very bright, vivid event where all attention will be on them and the groom. Need I say that preparing for a wedding is quite a job? You have to try on dresses in several shops, go round lots of jewellers for rings, find the right comfortable and beautiful venue — and that's just the basics. Then the bride changes her surname and has to change her passport, and then her driving licence, and to change that she needs an extra medical. She may have to change all her diplomas and other documents too. I don't think any girl as a child could have imagined such hassle.
Childhood dreams and goals that have come with us to the present day often turn out to be badly distorted. That's something to watch out for — you need to look at them soberly in a new way and prepare for them more seriously.
