Hold Loosely To Your Dreams

It is a wonderful thing to have a dream: a vision of your life and what you want it to be will get you through hard times, it will encourage you and give you strength; it will help you to rise above what you thought to be your limits and overcome them.

But, contrary to all modern American philosphy might teach, it’s not magic, and it won’t, by virtue of mearly existing, cause you to overcome all things at all times. The world is bigger than any of us, and as miraculous our ability to overcome can sometimes seem to be, there comes a time when it’s just too big, and it will plough us into the ground. Markets crash, illness strikes, loved ones die, and madmen gain power. Often you can overcome, but sometimes you cannot.

Hollywood tells us that love conquers all. It doesn’t. It can give you strength, but it won’t help you if a suicide bomber sets himself off in your bus, or a lost kid brings a gun to school and opens fire on your child. Hollywood also has this mad idea that Rock-n-Roll can conquer just about any problem; well, inspiring music might help you rise above your self-imposed limits, but it’s not going to help you rise above the cold, hard, facts of life.

I don’t mean to be discouraging, or rob anyone’s hopes. But I get mortally weary of all the feel-good advice people shell out when things are going badly. Sometimes you just have to endure. And sometimes you have to go another way.

So hold loosely to your dreams. I think the heart of any successful life philosophy is to be flexible. When the Insurmountable Thing gets in your way, you might not be able to find a way over it or around it. Certainly, you should try, if there is any change of getting to the other side, and grit and determination may just create that way. But you also have to accept that just maybe you will just need to go another direction. Dream those dreams, but be willing to make new ones if you truly must. If you cannot do this, eventually, life is going to crush you.

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