If your dreams don’t scare you, are you thinking big enough?

I resent the monotonous life, the 9-5 work until you’re dead, or close enough to dead that you can’t do anything, type life. I resent the American philosophy of materialism – the constant “go-go-go.”

An old friend tried to help me see his viewpoint a while back, that he could work hard and make his money now, to set him up to retire with all this money and go wherever when he’s 65, after he’s had children and raised them and has everything set up.

HOWEVER, consider this:

By the time you are 65, your knees definitely won’t carry you as well, you are settled into a community that you probably won’t really want to leave, and your worldview and habits are most likely, firmly in place.
Your dreams of hiking that mountain – impossible, because your physical body will not allow it. Instead, you used your good, young, healthy years, working… for what now?
Your dreams of backpacking and living in another country, learning a new culture, trying out that exciting and intimidating hobby – possible, but much harder and less enjoyable, since you’ve lived your life in your way and are now accustomed to your habits and lifestyle, and thus are entirely less likely to be fluid in another culture.

My question is… when did we stop living? When did work take over? Why can’t we do both?

My lifestyle, my dreams, are not for everyone. I know that, and that’s totally fine. I dream of living abroad, of exploring the world and other cultures, of using my young body hard while it can take it. Yes, that takes sacrifices and living scarcely – things people don’t like the sound of.

But tell me – is your future certain? Are you altogether POSITIVE that you will live long enough to see that retirement fund and be able to take your luxurious vacations?

I simply do not think so. I think the future of the world is a scary and uncertain prospect with everything going on, from pandemics to riots to the climate crisis… who knows if that river will even still be there for you to visit?

YOUR FUTURE IS NOT CERTAIN.
So if you died tomorrow, would you feel fulfilled?
Would you feel like you did everything you wanted to do?

Or are you going to get to age 65, look back, and wonder where the time went, why you wasted your good knees walking to the same job in your hometown everyday rather than down the dirt hills of a poor village in Africa, learning more of the world?

I stopped dreaming big for a moment because I let the world scare me, because I told myself it was impossible.
But it is NOT impossible, not at all.
You can do all the things you want to do.
It will take sacrifices. It does take a healthy mindset of priorities.
My priorities isn’t comfort or building a family right now.
It’s exploring and learning more of the world, more of me.
If you’re young and reading this, I want you to realize that this is the time to be “selfish” – the time to do things for you, before you have others counting on you.
If you’re older and reading this, know that life isn’t over and you didn’t waste your time, it was valuable in its own way, but now is your time to make your life how you want it.
Maybe that just means reaching out in your community or doing that art project you always wanted to do but never had time for.
You have time, if you make time.

So, what’s it going to be?
What means the most to you?
Prioritize that, and live for the now, while you still can.
Dare to chase those crazy dreams – the only one that can truly shut them down, is you.

Even if they end up impossible, don’t you want to know that you tried on a “maybe” instead of convincing yourself it was a “no” before you even started?

Live. Learn. Explore.
Go.

Connect with me on instagram to see me doing my best to live out my dreams and adventures authentically, and share with me how you’re living out your own!

We’re in this together, friends!