Dreams – If you look at the dictionary, it means a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep. But we’re not going to discuss about dreams that occur in our sleep. I would leave them for the experts! What we’ll talk about are the dreams that are seen with eyes wide open.
So what are dreams really? Where do they come from? Why is my dream different from yours? Simply put, a dream is a cherished aspiration, ambition or ideal. So we all have our dream job, our dream life-partner, dream home, dream vacation, dream life – to sum it all up. But, is that it?
A lot of people have come up to me and said “Tee, I don’t know what my dreams are.” And my simple answer to them is – “You have to find that out for yourself”. Everyone is endowed with different talents which ideally need to be nurtured and used for the benefit of the person and also the world at large. So if you don’t find out what your dreams are, do you think you are doing justice to yourself and humanity?
Let’s look at the two major reasons why your dreams are important.
- Everyone is born to learn and grow, and dreams form a major part of that process – The path of life is always towards growth and development. And that involves continuous learning, unlearning and relearning. Your dreams are directly an offshoot from your inborn talents and vice versa. You can hone your talents by working towards fulfilling your dreams. And who knows, one talent might lead to the opening up of another to another and these again form so many reasons for you to learn about yourself and grow in the way that’s best for you. You could be dreaming of being a traveller, and lo and behold, you discover your hidden talent for photography!!! See what I mean?
- Your dreams give a direction to your life – A life without a dream is just like a ship without a rudder, or a car without a driver. Your ambitions encourage you to take your life in a direction which gives you meaning and purpose, which is only yours. You will have many things to do, many duties to fulfil, but unless you give time and energy to building up yourself through working for your dreams, you will never be truly able to live life fully, just as how you deserve.
Now let us examine the roadblocks to your dreams and how should you tackle them :-
- The negativity of people around you – Some of them sadly will never understand your dreams, and it is absolutely not their fault. If you choose to stay among people who bring you down, or do not encourage you, then that’s a choice you’re making for yourself. Either get used to opposition or let go of the people. The latter is not always possible though. But that’s when your rock-solid determination to take responsibility for your own life should take over. Would you like to be someone who constantly blames others for not being able to follow your dreams? That’s not wise, is it? Rather, be someone who still works for their dreams in spite of all odds. Observe your surroundings, take your time, take a step back if required, think, plan and act accordingly.
- Your own negative self-talk – Now how many of us think that we are not good enough? Not smart enough? These are nothing but you telling yourself that you can never achieve your dreams!! Would you talk like that to someone you love? You wouldn’t right? So let’s have this very clear. Your negative self-talk is even more detrimental than the negatives that people say to you about you. Open you eyes, and smell the coffee. Do not let your own thinking be an impediment to your own progress. Rather, learn to use the power of your own mind. There is nothing you cannot do or be, if you put in the work.
- Too old or too young – This is again a lie we tell ourselves. Following your dreams do not have an age. You can start, end, change, defer or repeat anytime you want.
- Our insecurities of being left out – Often we try to live up to other people’s expectations in order to have them stay with us. They could be parents, teachers, relatives, people at workplace, anyone. But that is the saddest way to live your life. Truthfulness and honesty with yourself and others can not only earn you peace and joy, but respect also. When you live your life truthfully, you inspire others to do the same. Imagine the respect you get by that! People who really mean you well, will stay anyway. Those who don’t, let them go gracefully.
- Fear of Failure – Now this fear, or any fear for that matter – does not exist at all!!! You are just trying, if it works great, if it doesn’t, you’ll try a different method. Success or failure is something very result-oriented. While setting targets is great, but being attached to them is making yourself slave to the outcomes. When you really learn to be totally involved in your work without being attached to the outcome, you’ll understand that fear of failure is something created by you, and has got nothing to do with your advancement as a better human being.
I am a strong believer that we do not choose our dreams, dreams are given to us. Our talents are right there within us, waiting to be revealed. You don’t need to live a lie in order to fit in with the physical realities of life. With focus, discipline and hard work, you can transform your life and create your own reality. It is said that “We all have two lives. The second one begins when we realize we only have one”. Now if that doesn’t shake you up, I don’t know what would.
Go and give your dreams a chance. And please, do not copy what someone else is doing. That is a definite waste of time, energy and an utter disrespect to their uniqueness and yours too. Take your time, find out who you are, acknowledge your dreams, work for your passions, live free, making each moment something you would cherish and look forward to. Let this be your way of contribution to the positivity of humanity.
Also, here's the link of the YouTube vlog on this topic. Do give it a watch :-
Tell me about how you have followed your dreams. Or are you having a hard time finding out your passions? Do share in the comments below. I would love to hear from you!
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