What if the whole dream just doesn’t come true?
I was talking with a friend who moved to a new city to pursue her dream of an artistic career. It was a risky move, but one that seemed really right for her. When the next right step seems to be an equally good fit for your personal growth and your spiritual life and your career and purpose and everything… you just can’t say no!
But she’d been at it for a few years. Some big wins, but not the huge breakthrough she might’ve been hoping for. And when she said this was a question she’d been asking herself, I felt like I could relate. What if I never make the thing that reaches a large audience? That changes the way people see an issue en masse? What if that big surge of growth I’ve been looking for just doesn’t happen?
Then I realized, what if we asked another question?
What if the dream already came true and we didn’t know it?
I get to wake up most mornings looking forward to making things. She gets to rock crowds and temporarily take them away from their everyday lives and into the magic of a performance. I have an opportunity to speak about urgent and important issues. Somehow we’re able to do these things, have a blast, and still pay the bills.
Sure there will be other benchmarks, new levels, and next steps we’ll always be looking towards. But also… we’re doing it! And I know my twenty year old self would be pretty thrilled knowing everyday life could blend work and play so seamlessly.
Imagine if the genie gave you unlimited wishes, except with the catch that you’d never be able to realize it when a wish had been granted. That would be so anticlimactic! Here’s to the dreams that come true quietly.