Children in the Caribbean (and the world): innocent enthusiasm

Recently I have been listening, reading and experiencing some inspirational and motivational teachings. This started around 2006 when I was feeling a bit down and lost. almost ten years later, I am still learning. But the difference is that now I understand all the teachings much better. and by teachings I mean everything, From motivational speakers to the Bible to Zen. I lay my hands on anything I can get.
What I found was that there is a thread that holds all these different teachings together. It is that you yourself are the architect of your life. The most important thing/tool you have are your thoughts. And envisioning things is key. Whether positive or negative, whatever you envision will in some way come true.
So what has all this to do with the Caribbean you ask? Listening to a motivational podcast I remembered a story about this kid (who is an adult now with children of his own), which is a 'textbook" case of all what I have encountered and learned.

The Caribbean, just like any place in the world, can be challenging for kids to grow up in. There are many things holding us back: poverty, abuse, discrimination etc. etc. I myself have experienced some of it, but my problems fade away compared to the story I am about to share.

When I was little there was a boy living in my neighborhood. He was about 2 years younger than me. He came from a very humble background, raised by a single mother. They lived on "welfare" and were considered poor. Having the Dutch education system on Aruba, where background does not play a big role, we visited the same elementary school. There I remember this kid went through a rough time. He was bullied by both the other children and the teachers. At the time I did not realize it was bullying, but thought it was quite funny. Also in the neighborhood, he was looked down on and bullied. I'll spare you the details, but it resulted him transferring to another school. Later I understood that there he flourished and became a good student.
Apart from knowing him from school, we became kind of neighborhood friends. He would come to our house to play, and eventually he came every day. My mother especially took him under her wing, as she saw potential in him and felt a great deal of compassion. Being little myself, I was not able to understand and became quite jealous of this. Nevertheless, we became friends and this relationship lasted for a few years, until he turned about 12 and one of his relatives took him under their wing. In a nutshell, back then he was considered to not amount to much in life.

The remarkable thing that stuck with me was that he always had great visions for himself. For example he explained to us how he dealt with aggressive dogs attacking him when walking through the fields to get to our house. He would sit down and imagined he was Bruce Lee, and then looked at the dogs and say: "Come and get it". The dogs would growl and bark, but not attack him anymore. Back then we just laughed at this, but now 27 years later....I understand the power of what he at age 9 did. But the most powerful and amazing thing he did, what convinced me that positive thinking, your thoughts and envisioning can do, was how he played.
In a field next to our house there was a little junkyard with large construction trucks. He would sit in those trucks almost everyday and image himself driving them and working. Some days we could hear him playing in the trucks and envisioning himself as a real truck driver.

After he changed schools and went on to spend more time with his relatives, we kind of lost touch. about 3 years ago I found him back on Facebook and also saw articles about him in the local newspaper. And this is the amazing part. He is actually now working with large trucks in a leadership position. I often see articles about him fighting for his organization and getting things accomplished for his people. And I think people now around him have a great image and appreciation for him. If I compare this to when he was 8-9 years old....I think back then no one would have believed that this would or could be his future. Some of the kids who bullied him, are actually less successful than him. I wonder what his elementary school teachers think of this if they realize.

So what I am trying to say in this piece is that no matter where you are from, your background or situation. With the right attitude and thoughts, you can achieve a lot. Of course you will need some help from now and again, but believe me, this help is also a result of your thinking. So to all kids in the Caribbean (also the rest of the world): don't let your surroundings and circumstances hold you back. Be brave, keep dreaming and recognize help when it reaches you. The world can be quite forgiving and compassionate. I have learned through some hard times as well, and now look at children in a whole other way.....great potential and innocent enthusiasm....