Let the Dream Live

I think we can all attest to having been asked this question about a thousand times when we were younger: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” When I was much younger, my answer was that I wanted to be a singer, an actor, and all that jazz. I wanted to an entertainer. As I look back on my developmental years (childhood, teen-hood, and even most of college), very little about the things I involved myself in reflect the dream that I had as a young child. When I think about why I never pursued this dream, it’s simply because somehow I allowed myself to be convinced that this was everybody’s dream. I allowed myself to think that everybody wanted to do this too; therefore, this was not unique to me.

This is scary! It is scary to get to a place where we think the passions that have been placed in our hearts are not uniquely ours so we don’t pursue them.

In college, after nixing journalism, I chose to study communication studies which was basically a fancier version of public speaking with emphasis on a particular thing. Okay, so it was more complex than that obviously, but it involved a ton of speeches and presentations. I can remember talking to several of my health sciences friends and they were overwhelmed at how much public speaking I had to do in my studies. I remember thinking how crazy they sounded in how they made delivering speeches sound as tough as fighting in combat in somebody’s war. I couldn’t empathize with them here because public speaking was something that came so easily and naturally for me. Seriously, I loved people having to listen to me speak. Maybe that’s why I’m still a teacher today.

I am grateful for the time that my dreams were on hold though because I’ve been able to do so much thinking and planning to where now my goals and visions are clear for exactly what I hope to accomplish. In this time, I've been able to see that my dream was meant for me and it feels good to be chasing the things that have never left my heart even if it took me years to finally step out in pursuit of them.

It’s encouraging to know that it’s never too late to start. If you find that you’re in a place where you’ve silenced your dream for whatever reason, I challenge you to dig deep and create a why. Why are you being led to that particular thing and what good would come out of it? Remembering the Starr Life- if you make it doing whatever that thing is, how will it lead to other people living better lives as well as yourself?

So basically what I'm saying is, you do you, but actually. Go for it. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The worst that could happen is you try something then realize it's not actually for you, but I'm a firm believer that when something has you so impassioned- it's all you think about- passion is enough to drive you to find success.