Dream Valuation

How do you determine the value of a dream? What criteria should be used? Is it how much money you could make?  Is it the prestige or reputation you will gain?  Is it the number of lives you will touch?  Is it the depth of your passion?  

Truthfully, I'm not sure how much I thought about putting a value on dreams until my children started to express their own and others would offer feedback.  And now as my oldest daughter contemplates college and in what she will major, the concept of valuing a dream has come up numerous times. 

My daughter has a passion for kids.  She thinks that kids of all ages are the greatest.  She is also a gifted teacher.  Teaching is natural, instinctual for her.  Even the teachers she has interned with comment on her natural ability and her passion.  She sees the potential in each child and is willing to try numerous ways to explain concepts to them.  As a result, her dream for many years has been to become a teacher.  It is still one of her many dreams.  But there are those who do not place a high value on her dream.  "She could do so much more."  "She could earn more doing something else."  "She has such potential for better things."  "She could be so much more than 'just a teacher'."

(Now, I won't get on my soap box and lecture you about the need for passionate, gifted teachers or how teaching is minimized.  Suffice it to say, I think teaching is a wonderful profession and am thankful for the great teachers my children and I have encountered.  My purpose here is not to defend one profession, but to honor dreams.)

I think the statements given in response to an other's dreams often reflects the value assessed.  So, once a value is given, what are we to do with it?  Are there dreams that don't have enough 'value' to even be worth pursuing?  Should certain dreams be abandoned?  Should some dreams be modified until their value increases sufficiently? 

Ultimately, the question is, who gets to determine the value of our dreams?  Will we allow others that privilege?  Or will we determine the value for ourselves?  My hope is that my children will boldly follow their dreams regardless of other people's assessments.