Let’s start off with a scenario, you are a soaked up corporate employee, busy trying to make a name for yourself in this mean and cruel world when you happen to take a look out of that 40-storey building’s always shed-kind-of 3rd floor window, and see a young, 10 year old boy playing football. Your eyes fill up with tears as you remember your own childhood dream of becoming a footballer, but you have no clue where those aspirations went away. Alas! You put your head down acknowledging the fact that you missed your window of opportunity and there is nothing more you could do, but regret.
There is actually one thing common in almost every human being – regret. Every person has one or the other thing that he/she regrets in his/her life and the most common being – sidelining their ‘passion’ or ‘dream’. There are no such viable reasons to suggest why people do so, but there are always some ‘myths’ that refrain people to follow their aspiration. I am going to cover almost all those ‘myths’ which hinder people from living their dreams.
1. The ‘What if?’ syndrome – One thing that people fear most is the question that keeps bogging their mind every time they think of pursuing their dream jobs, “What if?” It is this very mentality that makes about half the aspirants to join a “real job” rather than follow what they truly want to as a job. They live life under pressure from their peers, from the society, from the family and from everyone else who played a part in maneuvering their dream.
2. The fear of failing – Most people find it difficult to start on something new because they are too afraid of its outcome. They think that they might fail beforehand and hence, not even dare to start with their dream at the first place. This very feeling of being ‘afraid’ drives most people to secure jobs in the mainstream rather than follow the uphill task that their heart truly wants.
3. Lack of support – Most people lag behind because the kind of support they need in their formative years is not bestowed upon them. They are cold-heartedly left to face the ugly truth of living in this mean world that scares them outright and ultimately scraps out the desire from their hearts of dreaming. This leaves them with only one option – follow the routine of a mainstream job and let go of what you always wanted.
4. Career first, dreams later – People are always convinced into finding themselves a decent job first and then continue with whatever they wish to. But this is not necessarily true. Most people almost forget about their dreams once they set foot in the corporate world. Even if some want to follow their aspirations, they are so insanely bound to what they are doing at the moment that they don’t get time ‘now’ to work towards their dream.
5. The fear of rejection – Another common issue is that the mindset of people is such that they falter even before they start. They have this one feeling carved deep inside their hearts which they want to follow no matter what, however, when we do a reality check, most succumb to the pressures of the society and the fear of getting ‘rejected’. What people don’t understand is they won’t know about the outcome until and unless they try. So, the next time you try and think of something new, continue with it without any hesitation of not being accepted or getting rejected.
6. Indomitable degrees – Our society is of the mindset that people first need to get themselves in the main stream jobs in order to be successful; what they totally ignore is the fact that being successful doesn’t mean adding a doctorate or engineering degree or CA to your name, what’s more important is ‘character and attitude’ and that comes only when you get to know yourself better which is in direct proportion with following your dream job as it helps you understand your needs and yourself better.
7. I’ll progress with my dream in the spare time – Once you get yourself a “Real Job”, it becomes insanely hard for you to find spare time for yourself; forget finding some spare time to pursue your dream. People value “Real jobs” more than their dreams and end up sitting in a cabin bound by files touching the sky and their mind totally blown away thinking about their future assignments when their current and past assignment are still due. Time once gone, never comes back and making time is neither in your hands nor mine; so, it is quite perspicuous that either you step on the boat or not take a step at all.
8. Money woes – Every person has his/her own needs and money being probably at the top most priority in anybody’s list. And to earn this money, one has to get a job, and you can either get a “Real job” and cash in or patiently wait for your dream to take shape finally reaping you benefits. But who has so much time, right? So, you foolishly choose the former over your dreams and cash in while trying to forget your childhood dream amidst all the pressures from varied places ranging from your boss to your co-employees, from your society to your family.
9. Wait for the proper moment – Many people bail out on others counting on them to show the path by simply wasting time by blaming time itself, for it is not suitable/ideal for them to start with their dream. They try to compose and reassure themselves each and every time an opportunity knocks, by simply dismissing it by saying, “The time is not Right.” Such people live in the illusion that life will itself make it easier for them to cope with the pressures only when the time is right, but of course according to them. They forget that ‘future time’ will make it further harder to follow ‘that dream’ as the responsibilities usually grow with time. Oh yes, don’t undermine the health issues – pops out from nowhere – that multiplies with your age. Hope you get that vicious circle 😉
10. Labelled ‘failed’ by society – The society simply discards a person from its ranks when the going gets tough. They treat him as an equal as long as they are able to bear him as an asset; as soon as he turns into a liability, instead of guiding the lost soul and showing him a new path the society turns its back on such people. This is the condition of our society. This is the very reason why parents persuade their children to aim for the more prominent degrees than reach for their dreams.
Of all the many reasons, you may choose to accept to let your dream rot in the garbage; or you should spend more time searching for reasons to pursue your dreams and letting go of what others will think. You have got only one life to live your passion; at least once give it your best shot; you never know how things will shape up in your favor. Good luck!!!!
Oh yes, Don’t forget to leave your comments, as sometimes these couple of lines are more effective than the tome.