A long time ago, when you were full of vigor, you had a lot of dreams. You dreamt of big and grandiose things, of being rich and famous, of going places, of having your name as well-known as your favorite pretzels; of conquering the world.
What happened to your dreams?
"Well," you might say, "they have gone the way most youthful dreams go - buried and forgotten."
Yes, years and adulthood have a way of transforming our youthful idealisms and fantasies into realities that we are often not prepared to handle, of making life so overwhelming we can hardly keep our noses above water.
When we become adults, our dreams give way to new priorities, new responsibilities, different set of problems and concerns, of starting a family and many more. We get out from the comfortable life-support from parents and begin to live our own lives, earn our own keep and lay down the blueprint for the future.
It is the time, supposedly, when we ask ourselves the question, "What will I do with my life?"
As simple and straightforward this may be, a lot of young people, rather than meet it head on, skirt around it or avoid it altogether for two reasons:
First: They don't take life too seriously until later when it is already too late;
Second: They think it is self-indulgence to be so engrossed with self or career.
Consequently, they miss the opportunity of laying down the foundations of a happy, successful and meaningful life. Not only have they abandoned their youthful dreams, they have succumbed to the allure of things that are within reach and easy for the taking. They embrace the fast food mentality.
There are so many young people these days toiling at jobs they hate. Too many smart, educated and talented young people working at half their potential at jobs they are just tolerating, not loving. They have put their dreams on hold in exchange for more money, a bigger house, a fancy car, private schools for the children, and many other worldly things that are not relevant to what a happy and successful life is.
This is rather tragic because we currently live in a world full of choices. We need not tolerate jobs we hate. We can choose careers that can both satisfy our material needs and our core values, our dreams. All you need to do is decide what to devote your life on and then pursue it.
But making that decision is impossible if you avoid confronting the fundamental question of "What will I do with my life?"
The answer to that question is best expressed by Card Sandberg who said,
"Nothing happens unless first a dream."
To know what to do with your life, you must get out of your shell of complacency and confront your fears. Get to know yourself, your values, the things you love to do, and your strengths and weaknesses. Then decide on pursuing them until you have them in your hands to see, to touch, to feel, to be proud of and be exceedingly joyful with.
You have to dream dreams again.
Real success can only be achieved by unleashing your productive, creative and focused energy from within at something you love doing.
Doing something you love doing is liberating because it rids you of the burden of doing something with no relevance to your values, your dreams, on what you deem important. It removes the dreariness of life, replacing it with vigor and enthusiasm knowing that at the end of the day, you have lived a meaningful life.
A lot of people are scared of living out their dreams for fear of not being able to live in abundance; to perpetually try to make both ends meet. They take living out their dreams as a form of self-denial. But a meaningful life is not of abundance but of living within your means. It is not wishing what others have but to be content with what you have, or to keep on reaching for things too far out to reach but to slowly and steadfastly gather those you easily can.
This is not coping out on life. Living out your dreams is to pursue happiness and success based on your core values, your inborn talent and your innate skills. It is pushing yourself to the limit on things you love to do, not of what others want you to do. It is being YOU.
Again, this may sound too far out or radical. But people always gravitate to what they desire most in life - happiness and success. Soon, you will want to get out of the prison you unwittingly put yourself into. You will look for ways to break out, to be free.
Do it now while you can.
What happened to your dreams?
"Well," you might say, "they have gone the way most youthful dreams go - buried and forgotten."
Yes, years and adulthood have a way of transforming our youthful idealisms and fantasies into realities that we are often not prepared to handle, of making life so overwhelming we can hardly keep our noses above water.
When we become adults, our dreams give way to new priorities, new responsibilities, different set of problems and concerns, of starting a family and many more. We get out from the comfortable life-support from parents and begin to live our own lives, earn our own keep and lay down the blueprint for the future.
It is the time, supposedly, when we ask ourselves the question, "What will I do with my life?"
As simple and straightforward this may be, a lot of young people, rather than meet it head on, skirt around it or avoid it altogether for two reasons:
First: They don't take life too seriously until later when it is already too late;
Second: They think it is self-indulgence to be so engrossed with self or career.
Consequently, they miss the opportunity of laying down the foundations of a happy, successful and meaningful life. Not only have they abandoned their youthful dreams, they have succumbed to the allure of things that are within reach and easy for the taking. They embrace the fast food mentality.
There are so many young people these days toiling at jobs they hate. Too many smart, educated and talented young people working at half their potential at jobs they are just tolerating, not loving. They have put their dreams on hold in exchange for more money, a bigger house, a fancy car, private schools for the children, and many other worldly things that are not relevant to what a happy and successful life is.
This is rather tragic because we currently live in a world full of choices. We need not tolerate jobs we hate. We can choose careers that can both satisfy our material needs and our core values, our dreams. All you need to do is decide what to devote your life on and then pursue it.
But making that decision is impossible if you avoid confronting the fundamental question of "What will I do with my life?"
The answer to that question is best expressed by Card Sandberg who said,
"Nothing happens unless first a dream."
To know what to do with your life, you must get out of your shell of complacency and confront your fears. Get to know yourself, your values, the things you love to do, and your strengths and weaknesses. Then decide on pursuing them until you have them in your hands to see, to touch, to feel, to be proud of and be exceedingly joyful with.
You have to dream dreams again.
Real success can only be achieved by unleashing your productive, creative and focused energy from within at something you love doing.
Doing something you love doing is liberating because it rids you of the burden of doing something with no relevance to your values, your dreams, on what you deem important. It removes the dreariness of life, replacing it with vigor and enthusiasm knowing that at the end of the day, you have lived a meaningful life.
A lot of people are scared of living out their dreams for fear of not being able to live in abundance; to perpetually try to make both ends meet. They take living out their dreams as a form of self-denial. But a meaningful life is not of abundance but of living within your means. It is not wishing what others have but to be content with what you have, or to keep on reaching for things too far out to reach but to slowly and steadfastly gather those you easily can.
This is not coping out on life. Living out your dreams is to pursue happiness and success based on your core values, your inborn talent and your innate skills. It is pushing yourself to the limit on things you love to do, not of what others want you to do. It is being YOU.
Again, this may sound too far out or radical. But people always gravitate to what they desire most in life - happiness and success. Soon, you will want to get out of the prison you unwittingly put yourself into. You will look for ways to break out, to be free.
Do it now while you can.
Joseph Dabon
I am a retired engineer who has taken up writing to share with the world my experience in personal improvement during my long years in the corporate world.
I am currently writing a book, Chase Your Dreams, and blogging. Visit my site at http://withinyouisyoursuccess.com/ and join me in this exciting journey of searching for that success formula that resides in each one of us.
I am a retired engineer who has taken up writing to share with the world my experience in personal improvement during my long years in the corporate world.
I am currently writing a book, Chase Your Dreams, and blogging. Visit my site at http://withinyouisyoursuccess.com/ and join me in this exciting journey of searching for that success formula that resides in each one of us.
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