When do people give up on their dreams? It is a question that I have been obsessed with for several years now. No one wants to be an actuary when they grow up. No child dreams of becoming a paper pusher or having a job with great retirement benefits, do they? Yet most, if not all of us make little compromises at some point. Many of us decide that earning a paycheck is more important than following our dreams, however unrealistic that dream may be.
My question is why?
The open and lonely road ahead.
At what point do people decide that their dreams are unreasonable? When does life intervene and say “you’re just not going to make it?” Perhaps more importantly, why do people listen? Is it marriage, children, responsibility or fear?
Fear of uncertainty, fear of the unknown or fear of failure? What is it that allows people to put their dreams in the closet and settle for certainty? I don’t know…
I’m interested in this because I’ve always feared that it would happen to me, that I would get to the point where I decided that what I hoped I’d be able to accomplish was just unrealistic and I should get what I could while it was still possible. Rather than reach the summit I should be happy with the lovely valley that I have encountered and not think about the vistas that I will never see.
The Promise of Passion.
The road of my life has always been paved with uncertainty, and I have come to accept that. But I’ve always feared that around the corner will be the day where I give up; where I decide that enough is enough and a paycheck is ultimately more important than some idea like happiness or fulfillment. It hasn’t happened yet but why should I be the one in a million who doesn’t settle for a house, dog and 2.3 children, as if that would lead me to the promised land?
I’ve seen it happen to friends and colleagues, to people I love and those I can’t stand; why should I be any different? I suppose I feel like there’s something calling me. Maybe it is the same siren song that attracted sailors and explorers centuries ago. Maybe not all of us are meant to live on the farm, meant to be held down by the conventions of our societies. Perhaps some of us need to build our homes on the volcanoes, to sail our ships in uncharted seas.
I think I am one of these people…
