We all have dreams and those dreams are what fuel us through life and give us motivation. Personally, I have big dreams that I spend years aspiring to and then I have little ones that give me something to look forward to. Recently, a big dream of mine was, for lack of a better word, crushed. It was like my life was put on pause and something meant to be was ripped out from under me. So many tears were shed and to be honest, I am still getting over it.

I had dreamt of this for so many years of my life that now, I have no idea what's next.

This dream was my next stepping stone and I now realize that I relied on it too much to push me forward into the next few years of my life. Now that I know that reality will never come true, I have to figure out what comes next. And that is the exciting part.

While that dream was something that I desperately wanted to come true, it doesn't necessarily mean that that's it for me and that everything is over. Suddenly, the years before me that I had planned out are open and free and I can fill them with whatever I want. I can take a few years off to travel, I can start a business, I can do anything. This dream wasn't holding me down, but now that it's gone, I can focus on something new.

I put way too much emphasis on what needed to happen that I didn't make room for other possibilities. Yes, it was absolutely crushing to be told that something you have looked forward to for so many years wasn't going to happen, but after all of the tears were shed and the mind was cleared, I saw the open future ahead and it put a smile on my face.

That's exactly what you have to do. It's okay to grieve the loss of something that should've been because that dream was a part of you and will always be a part of you, but don't let that loss blind you from the opportunity before you.

Take this opportunity, this freedom, and use it to kick some ass and be an absolute boss. You owe to yourself.

I am proud of all of the hard work I put into that dream and I don't regret anything. Being told no was something that needed to happen, I may not yet understand why but I know in time, it will make sense and I will be where I'm meant to be.