Key points
- According to a lifestyle change coach, dreams often represent an underlying desire in us.
- Research shows that many palliative care patients wished that they had taken more risks in their lifetime.
Born in Germany, 62-year-old Charlie Jenal grew up seeing his environmentally conscious late father’s obsession with developing chemical-free cleaning products all his life.
“As long as I can remember, he’s been trying, trying, trying, working on it,” he recalls.
Charlie's father, Alfons, did succeed at one stage but lost the recipe by accident.
Even after developing Alzheimer’s disease, Alfons never stopped pursuing his forgotten recipe until his death three years ago.
That was when Charlie and his brother decided to turn their father’s legacy into 'Wild Organic Wash', the business that represents the family dream.
Source: Getty Images/Xesai
According to lifestyle change coach Caroline Cameron, our childhood dreams often represent our deepest desires and aspirations in their purest forms when life was less complicated.
Revisiting childhood dreams can be incredibly liberating and when you realise them, it can be deeply fulfilling.
She says reigniting your childhood dream does not need to be exactly the same as what you longed for as a child.
Ms Cameron refers to a farmer in his late seventies who, as a boy, always dreamt of becoming an inventor. Now in his retirement, he devotes much of his time in the local men's shed fixing toys for a nearby school.
Revisiting childhood dreams can be incredibly liberating and when you realise them, says lifestyle change coach, Caroline Cameron. Source: Getty Images
“And he gets such a kick and so much joy out of watching children’s faces. Actually, he’s inventing every day,” she says.
72-year-old Judy Yang aspired to dabble in Chinese calligraphy and traditional painting as a child.
Those dreams were forgotten in the course of life, but in her sixties, she decided to pick up Erhu – a traditional Chinese string instrument that she’s now been learning for six years.
"The children have grown up. I don’t have much to do. I was interested so I started learning," she says.
Charlie Jenal admits that his energy level is no longer the same as it once was in his twenties, but that should not stop him from trying something new.
Source: Getty Images/Devon Strong
Age is only a barrier if you think it is. If you tell your mind you’re getting old, you’ll get old.
Ms Cameron says most people actually have more time in their later years than they did back in their younger days.
“If not now, then when? That sense of urgency actually lights a fire within us," she says.
While some may struggle with the motivation to pick up a long-lost dream in their later years, Cameron draws on the research of a palliative care nurse who found that most dying patients wished that they had taken more risks and devoted more time to seek their happiness.
“You might not be able to change your past; you can create your future.”
