兒時夢難圓？

Kieron wants to be a train driver. He dreams about trains. He reads about trains. He draws pictures of trains. He is sure this is what he will do. Lucy， aged seven， wants to be a zookeeper. She loves animals. She wants to look after them. She has drawn a picture of her dream. Georgia is ambitious. She’ll be a singer. But right now she is still in primary school， reading and counting and writing when the teacher says so. 1）X-Factor here she comes. In 2）felt tip， she and her classmates draw themselves in the future， entertaining audiences， saving lives， nurturing minds. Teacher， fireman， bookshop owner， they say； that’s what we’ll be.

Meanwhile， on the office floor and in the sales room， willing past the hours between clocking in and knocking off， things have turned grey. As the recession rolls， dreams have been crushed to dust.

At a time when it is hard for adults to summon the freedom to dream， children are setting an example. As our young artists from Walbottle Village primary school， Newcastle upon Tyne， show， they dream freely， with a healthy dose of imagination.

“My dream job is to be a famios persin because I want to be rich and buy a castle，”writes Emily， six. “I would like to be a 3）vet because I have seven cats. I like animals and want to be one，” says Bethany， five.

Adults don’t stick to their dreams， says headteacher， Maria Tarn：“They are 4）tainted by life experiences. I think we need to keep that ambition going.”

Research released last week by UKTV’s Watch channel supports this view. Some 69% of 3，000 parents surveyed admitted they had failed to follow their dream career path. But as they support their children in reaching for their （very different） dream careers， one generation on， parents said they rated job satisfaction and happiness as more than twice as important as wealth.

The most popular professions among fiveand six-year-olds are teacher， doctor and vet， research from 5）The Children’s Mutual shows. But they say training for these top three “dream jobs” will cost between ￡75，000 and ￡130，000 by 2021， based on today’s National Union of Students figures adjusted for inflation.

But perhaps an even greater cost—not necessarily measured in monetary terms—could be attached to the reverse； not pursuing dreams.

Consider the nightmare. Kieron， abandoning all enthusiasm for a job with travel， adventure and people， takes a job in an office—temporarily—to pay the bills. He stays for 25 years and gets used to the salary， occasionally wondering what happened.

Dr. Rob Yeung， corporate psychologist at consulting firm Talentspace and presenter of BBC’s How To Get Your Dream Job says that if people do not have enthusiasm for a job， then it is a “terrible waste of a life”.“Every job has its downsides，” says Yeung， but if you enjoy only 10% of the time you’re at work， it is not a good sign.

We are a “nation of career drifters”， analysis by workplace consultancy CHA shows. More than 60% of workers meander into a job instead of fulfilling their original career aspirations.

But the financial crisis has altered roles—for the worse—for many workers. And a large percentage who would not previously have done so are questioning how well suited their jobs are to them. Whereas talk two years or even 12 months ago might have been of career progression， workers are now widely complaining of career 6）regression， never mind just standing still.

Research published last month by international charity 7）VSO shows that more than 10 million workers in Britain feel they are “8）stagnating” professionally. One fifth of workers said they were considering a previously unplanned change in professional direction. Half said there were limited opportunities to get promoted in their current job and almost half said the recession had reduced their chances of developing their career.

Perhaps the time is exactly right to pinpoint and leap for dreams.

“You can look at the recession as an opportunity or a 9）calamity，” says Yeung.“People will use anything from their marriage to the recession as justification for staying in an unfulfilling job.” Others will respond positively and use it as a 10）catalyst for change.

But that’s still easier said than done， says Catherine Roan， managing director of Careershifters.org. “There is always a reason to stay.” Instead of lying in bed worrying about a career that is wrong， she says， set aside some time to devote to moving towards career change.

“I’ve never met anyone who regrets it ever and they all just wish they’d had the confidence to do it sooner， but that’s part of the journey，” Roan says.

Dreams are hard to grasp at the best of times. But what’s the harm in trying？ What did you dream of doing？ What do you want to be？

基隆想要成為一名火車司機(jī)。他會夢到火車，閱讀關(guān)于火車的文章，還會畫火車。他確信這就是他將來要做的事情。露西，七歲，想要成為一名動物園管理員。她喜歡動物，想要照顧它們。她還畫了一幅畫來描繪自己的夢想。喬治婭則雄心勃勃，她將成為一名歌手。但是目前她還在讀小學(xué)，她依然按照老師的要求，上著閱讀、算術(shù)和寫作課。《X元素》，她就要放馬過來了。她和她的同學(xué)們用氈制粗頭筆，畫出自己的未來：娛樂觀眾、拯救生命、培育思想。老師，消防員、書店主，他們說；我們就要成為這樣的人。

與此同時，在辦公室或是門市部，人們正甘愿在打卡上下班之間消磨時光，日子愈發(fā)沒有生氣。隨著經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退加劇，夢想被撞擊成碎塵。

在這個成年人很難鼓起勇氣去追夢的時代，孩子們卻正在樹立著榜樣。來自位于泰恩河畔紐卡斯?fàn)柕奈植┨剜l(xiāng)村小學(xué)的年輕藝術(shù)家們，向我們展示了一點(diǎn)：他們能自由夢想，且滿賦想象。

“我夢想當(dāng)一個名人，因?yàn)槲蚁胍蔀橛绣X人，買一座城堡，”六歲的艾米莉?qū)懙馈！拔蚁氘?dāng)一名獸醫(yī)，因?yàn)槲矣衅咧回堖洹Ｎ蚁矚g小動物，所以我總想成為獸醫(yī)，” 五歲的貝姍妮這樣說道。

成年人不會堅(jiān)持他們的夢想，校長瑪利亞·塔恩說道：“他們被生活經(jīng)歷所污染。我覺得我們有必要讓那份雄心繼續(xù)燃燒。”

上周英國電視臺觀看頻道發(fā)布的研究證實(shí)了這一觀點(diǎn)。接受調(diào)查的3000位家長中，大約有69%承認(rèn)他們未能追隨自己的夢想職業(yè)道路。但是當(dāng)家長們支持自己的兒女追求自己（和他們的大不相同）的夢想職業(yè)時，隔著一代人，他們認(rèn)為工作滿足感和快樂比財(cái)富重要兩倍以上。……