When we are young we have dreams, we have hopes and ambitions. A lot of the time those aspirations become diluted and quite often fade altogether. Things happen, we become worn down by life; or we meet someone, fall in love and put our dreams on the back burner as we think there’s still so much time. Or you fall into a job as a temporary measure when you need to pay your rent, or you have a mortgage to pay and afterall it’s only temporary and you’ve got so much time. Or you find yourself married, with children when you had no intention of doing either and putting your dreams on hold again as you love this new little bundle of joy in your life and you want to spend all your time with them.
This process continues on and on. You find yourself in the same job for twenty years when it was only meant to be a stop gap. The child grows and their needs become different but just as time consuming. We decide we cannot focus on our dreams as that would be irresponsible, bad parenting, selfish, fool hardy, take your pick. Everyone will always tell you why you should not or cannot do something and not why you can and should.
Pretty soon our dreams have faded and the hopes and aspirations we had as children are a distant memory. Sometimes we reflect on them with a nostalgic smile, much like an aged photograph, but we bear them little attention in the present. We turn to thinking of our children, our partners, their dreams, their aspiratons and have little time for ourselves.
This becomes particularly true when we get sick, become disabled, or when a loved one is affected similarly; particularly when it is a child. We lose all our energy and cope with the job of existing and living day to day. I guess life becomes more about survival than dreaming.
That’s not to say that we don’t feel joy, we do. Many of us have wonderful moments of intense happiness despite letting go of our aspirations, but deep down quite a few of us resent the fact that we have given up on our dreams.
One morning you wake up and think “fuck, is this my life? What happened?” The truth is, life happened. What is it they say? Life’s what happens when you’re busy making other plans. That is so true and then you die.
Well I’ve decided to take some of that power back. We have one life, we shouldn’t waste it because one day you will die and you don’t want to die with regret over not living the life you wanted.
So where do you start? That’s a good question. I think the best place to start is by thinking about what you love in life, what outside of those you love makes you happy? Then start doing it, then eventually you might find a way to monetarise it and capitalise on your dreams. But to begin with don’t worry about the money just do what makes you happy and brings YOU joy and then the rest will follow.
At least that’s what I hope.
What about you? What did you want to be as a child? What makes you happy?
