“What do you want to become when you grow up?”—this question reverberated in the thoughts of a young carefree boy as he was forced to picture an image of himself in the future. Without sheer confidence, he told the crowd of wanting to be an astronaut. At some point when he was older, his preference shifted to a biologist, and finally an architect before his access to college. Years later, the boy snapped back to reality, realizing he killed all of those ambitions—worse, he discovered he doesn’t have a true dream after all.
Most of us have dreams and ambitions in life. We are immersed in a society where being futuristic is essential and setting figments of goals would lead us to a steady course in life. But have you ever reached an instance of wondering things like ‘What am I passionate about aside from playing video games and wasting time on Facebook and Instagram? Am I in the right direction? Do I really love this course or job?’—questions which stem out from someone who incontestably seeks the path of contentment and self-actualization.
Dreams define us—they reflect our inner thoughts, feelings, desires, passions, and needs in life. However, we often neglect the fact that dreams are dreams, that they are a mere product of thoughts and without action, they are good as dead. When we really desire to accomplish things, this desire mobilizes us to take a step towards the coveted goals. But when things go wrong and the dream has slipped from our grasp, we stumble and succumb with spirits of regret and failure, which induces us to stop trying and to leave those dreams behind us. While dreams are spawned simply by our infinite imagination, they could also be annihilated easily by the devious tricks of other people and society itself.
In an article published by Japan Times, the number of deaths associated with suicide peaked at over 21,000 in 2016—an utterly ironic situation for Japan who is recognized as one of the highly industrialized countries. The root of this dilemma draws us back to the inner hollowness caused by great pressure, failure, condemned weakness, and society-mandated ambitions itself. People like them and some of us, had to throw away our passion in fear of not receiving acceptance. But the sad truth is that giving away our dreams is like burying our inner self and letting others control our being which in the end, leaves us in perish.
Deviated ambitions aren’t caused by society alone, most of the time it is a battle against our own will. We divert from what we planned because we worry much about what others may think. We tend to compare ourselves to others which then drains out confidence and self-esteem. In most cases, simply because of the lack of opportunity and finances to support our chosen endeavour. And by losing or having no dream at all, keeps us vulnerable to whispered lies of shame and having no purpose in life.
But then dreams don’t have to die, because sometimes they change—a serendipitous moment when we surmise our plans may not be the plans set by God and that we are meant to be in a greener pasture.
When we come across this point, let us be aware that our lives, like stars in the universe, have their own destined places to shine. And dreams, like silent galaxies, call us to examine the vast expanse of our inner selves and seek the ultimate purpose in life.
The boy (who speaks to you at this very moment) realized that true happiness comes when you utilize your passion for something that will put contentment in your heart. An artist should remain an artist, a volunteer should keep the art of helping—such innate natures of ourselves that can never be snatched by others. A feasible dream is a desire that will bring us into ultimately help ourselves and others. And as Paulo Coelho said in his book The Alchemist, “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
Photo by Roberto Nickson: https://www.pexels.com/photo/silhouette-photo-of-person-sitting-on-boardwalk-at-sunset-2531237/
