Growing up in Dubai, I have always dreamt of achieving big, beautiful dreams. Like most of the children of the 80’s and 90’s, we grew up watching Disney fairy tales and believing in its soundtrack: “When your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme.”
To the adult realists of the world, that may seem like a child-like fantasy, but to many of us Emiratis born and raised in Dubai, we were brought up in a land with front-row seats of farfetched dreams becoming realities. This was not by default or miracle, but one dream after the other, continuously and progressively, with challenges overcome with a bit of pixie dust.
When I turned 25 earlier this year, I told my colleagues at the time that I did not feel like I had achieved everything I imagined I would, by the age of 25. My boss at the time, of course, told me otherwise and said that the older I would get, the more I would realise that it is not my list of promotions and golden stars that will account for accomplishments, but the hearts of the people I have touched.
She was right, but being young and ambitious with an itch to dream big, I let my conscience be my guide. Six months later, dressed in the colour of the sky, a modest head scarf, the identity of UAE and a heart-full of pride, I found myself in a surreal moment walking up a stage towards two gentlemen and an award. In a land far away, I accepted the recognition of Dubai as the world’s leading Festival and Event City of 2014.
As I stood there on stage looking out at a global audience, I thought about how I had always dreamt of representing Dubai in countries around the world. I then thought about how only four months ago, I made the decision to take a new job that would allow me to pursue that dream in the long run, and how I never imagined that my someday would be today.
My final thought was that just like a Disney fairy tale in #MyDubai, the dreams that you wish will come true.
- The reader is an Emirati marketing specialist based in Dubai.
