Dreams are all about values
When I speak at lectures or concerts for young people, I am often asked, “How can I find my dream?” or “I am anxious because I don’t know what I want.” I think it is only natural to have these agonies in youth.The members of “Non-Summit” and other speakers often encourage the audience, “Have a dream!” or “We are supporting your pursuit of a dream.” But recently, I began to change. I started to believe that there are more important things to young people than dreams. They are values.
Many Koreans around me go for their dreams and make great effort. Many of them are global-minded and dream to go abroad to study or work. But even those with dreams are worried about their futures. And the dreams often change. When I was younger, I often changed my dreams. I would run to my mother and say, “Mom, I finally know what I want to do,” only to change my mind the next day. The dream, or what you want to do with your life, can change naturally.
So you should be happy that you can change your dream. It means you have the right to choose your dream or, more broadly, liberty. Your agony over what you want to be among so many options and choices means you are a free man. It could make you unsure and anxious to live for the dream that can change.
So it is more important to have an ethical foundation on how to live everyday life. They are the values that make our lives more meaningful: the value to help others, the value to work for the environment, and the value to do the best for the family. But humans are not perfect and may go against the values. Then, you should not give up but acknowledge the mistake and make it an opportunity to clarify the values. Actor and martial artist Bruce Lee once said, “Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.”
The author is a TV personality from Germany who appears on the JTBC talk show “Non-Summit.”
JoongAng Ilbo, Sept. 17, Page 32
by DANIEL LINDEMANN
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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