“Get out of my dreams and live your own!” is the word I have for the thousands of people who are not settled with the fact that their life is worth living as well. Thousands and perhaps millions of people live in a state of disorientation when it comes to determining their own passion. Many people’s passion is based on someone else’s passion because they feel that their life is not interesting enough. These people are like children who are always competing for the attention of their parents or some adult.
One day, I was around a bunch of children that just wanted to say hi to me as though I was some rock star. I was flattered, but I also felt thronged by these children who were all competing for a handshake or a hug. I asked a young boy, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Another little boy quickly interrupted and said, “I don’t know.” Another little boy stared at me as though he was pondering on the question and shouted, “I want to be a fireman.” Immediately, the previous young boy that did not know what he wanted to be, yelled from the top of his lungs, “I want to be a fireman.” The bewildered young boy continued to change his life’s ambition based on what other children were saying because he thought I showed interest in what the others wanted to become. I thought to myself, this little boy has no clue that he was laying the foundation to be very unhappy with his life because for him his dream will never measure up to dreams of others.
Oftentimes, my wife and I would talk about the things we did as children growing up and how we daydreamed about what we wanted to become. She informed me that as a child her lifelong aspiration was to become a nurse. She was so aware of what she wanted to do that she pursued it all of her adolescence and young adult days. When she graduated from college, she no longer had to dream about becoming a nurse because her dream was realized when the Nurse State Exam Board mailed her test results, which was stamped—PASSED. She did not get her dream from someone else; she always knew that nursing would be her life assignment. It is particularly dangerous when a person desires to be someone else because they will eventually become lost in their own mind while trying to live the dream of someone else.
“My mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier you’ll become a general, if you become a monk you’ll end up as the pope.’ Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso,” said the great painter.
No one ever became great by imitating others. Do yourself a favor—don’t become some cheap copy of a great original. Make your own impression in life. I believe all people are created equal and endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights to be what they are destined to be. I am also persuaded that there is something for you to start that is ordained for you to finish. If you are like most people, who are waiting for the right time, you will discover that time will not wait for you. To only dream of the person you are supposed to be is a waste of the person you are. Claiming to be you while living the life of someone else is double trouble. Living a double life will get you nowhere twice as fast.
Seek to discover your gifts, talents and passion. If you do not have a plan, don’t borrow one until you get one or else you will end up settling with what you already have. Avoid becoming a complete stranger to yourself. Find out your uniqueness and fall in love with it because you are one of a kind. Start with what you have and develop it until there is nothing remotely close to resembling it.
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