This is what dreams are made of
Molly Fairclough,
3rd Oct 2019
Tags:
Life
Blog
Ambition
Career
Dreams
Right now, we live in a very ‘passion-centric’ culture that is focused on ‘making your dreams come true’. Surely this is a good thing?
But there’s one small, very-stressful, anxiety-inducing thing that can trigger some serious existential dread: How do we know what our dream is?
It seems like some people are just born knowing what they want to do with their life, and no matter what happens to them, their passion never wavers.
It’s like as soon as their brain can form proper thoughts, all they can think about is being a doctor, or a teacher, etc. and they’ll do anything to achieve that goal. However, this just isn’t the case for most of us.
I have never really thought about the pressure associated with trying to find my ‘passion’.
Recently, I listened to the podcast ‘Life Chats with Liv b’ where she was discussing the topic of ‘finding passions’ and why we stress about it so much.
Up until this point, I have never really thought about the pressure associated with trying to find my ‘passion’, but it’s something that has always been there.
Every time I see someone chasing their dreams or working hard towards their goals, I get this niggling anxiety that I’m not doing enough to achieve my own dreams.
You will simply discover it while you’re living your life.
However, Liv raised the really good point that a passion can’t be forced; you will simply discover it while you’re living your life.
If you stick to your same routine and never push yourself outside of your comfort zone, you will never find what sets your heart on fire.
Remember, life begins at the end of your comfort zone and you will only know if you are passionate about something if you put yourself out there and give it a go.
So, if discovering our dreams is really that simple, where does all of this pressure come from?
For me, if I really think about it, it’s because we live in a society of constant comparison.
I know it gets tedious hearing the same negative things about social media over and over again, but the trend of comparison that it creates is genuinely damaging. I find that the pressure to discover and pursue my dreams only really comes from seeing other people do so on such a large scale.
Social media makes us feel as if everyone is achieving their goals.
Whilst seeing a few people work towards their goals and be so driven can be inspiring, social media makes us feel as if everyone is achieving their goals, but us.
In the Bible it says, 'Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else' (Galatians 6:4).
It’s a process that is completely unique to you.
We all want to find our passions and make our dreams come true, but it’s a process that is completely unique to you, and one that can’t be rushed.
Focus on your own life, doing things that scare and excite you, and remember that other people’s achievements can never take away from your own.
