The funny thing is that it is always old people that tell me this. So, I started to think. Why are these people who have lived life, have done great things, and influenced many people for good, why are they telling me this? Many of these people end up quite well off financially. Are they telling me this because they didn't follow their dreams themselves? I once heard a story about a man who lived in a town where everybody had a dream, but nobody acted on it. No one told anyone else about their dreams, because, come on, let's be real here. Chances are, you won't make a lot of money acting on a dream, and money is what's really important, right? That's what this whole society believed, and that's how they acted. They were born, they grew up, they worked for success, and they died. This young man got to thinking, he thought, "Well, this is dumb. I don't want to spend my life like this." He had a dream. He acted on this dream.
And he failed.
He returned home in shambles. He thought that he could never live his dream. He and his Father had a discussion about this when he returned home. He learned in this discussion that his father had a dream once too, but in his mind there was no way he could follow it, so he didn't. This story prompted the young man to try again. And he did. He almost failed time and time again. He almost turned around many times. But he didn't.
Attaining his dream was the hardest thing he had ever done, but you know what? He did it. And it brought him more joy than anything else ever could have.
I wonder, did these old people make the same mistake as this young man's father? Did they have a dream that they pushed aside with the excuse that they could never do it, or that they may fail, or that it was too unrealistic? Then, and the end of their life, they maybe start to realize what they missed out on? They missed that pure joy, that sense of contentment and accomplishment that comes with living their dream and doing what they really wanted to. Instead they spent their lives, to quote Allan Watts, "Doing what they don't want to do in a place that they don't really want to be earning money they don't really care for." You can call me a hipster, you can call me a rebel, but do I really have to conform to these sociatial norms? I can tell you right now, that's not what I want to do with my life. Here is the difference. People tell me, "You would make a good lawyer or politician." Or, "You are really sharp. You would be a good engineer or scientist." Well, sorry. That's not what I want to do with my life. Do I really have to be good at what I want to do? I mean, the simple life that I desire will require me to be proficient in many things such as agriculture, horticulture, carpentry, machining, and just plain common sense. Let me tell you right now. There are certain aspects of all of those subjects that I am not good at. Who cares? Do I have to be good at something to enjoy it? I enjoy wrestling. I'm also very good at wrestling. I also enjoy fencing. But do you know what? A person on their first day of fencing lessons could destroy me. I am not very good.
I guess that the point that I'm trying to reach here is this.
Living your dream, no matter how hard and uncomfortable it is, is better than doing something that you abhor in greater comfort.
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