When we were kids and were asked what we wanted to do when we were older, the most fantastical ideas would flood from our mouths. “I want to be an astronaut!” “Well, a ballerina of course,” “I’m going to bake cakes and have the prettiest purple apron that I will never take off.” The sky was the limit and in that time when naps were a real possibility, we all had the conviction that we could be anything we wanted. As life goes on though, we start to realize that we are deathly afraid of flying, are the clumsiest dancer out there, or that constantly switching the sugar and salt amounts by accident was not a great sign for our baking careers. To quote the dashing Flynn Rider, “Well, that's the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream.” But people never really do that anymore do they?  

When our young dreams come crashing down and reality comes flooding in, our childhood ends and we have no choice but to look at the logistics. But now-a-days, the answer to everything is money. So we look for the job that will give us the funds and not the happiness. We resign ourselves to stuffy cubicles, watching the clock tick by, and counting down the days until retirement is possible. However, I’m not one of those people who believes money can’t make you happy. If I had an endless amount of money at my finger tips and could go on shopping trip after shopping trip, bathing in the sun while being attended to on my yacht, I would be pretty darn happy. 

But let’s be real. Not to sound grim, but the chances of a scenario like that ever happening to you is slim. Even with a higher paying job, you will only get slices of this paradise. You may book a lavish vacation but have to wait for that one time a year to come around to go. So you end up working countless torturous hours through the year for that one week of serenity.  

I want a career that I love, not just a job that will pay the bills. Of course, I still want to be able to pay my bills, because sleeping on my parents couch for the rest of my life is not a viable option. But at the end of your life, you will always go back to the “what if” moments and wonder if you made the right decision. What if you had applied to film school like you always dreamed of instead of majoring in accounting because it was a for sure job? What if you had taken that chance and majored in art because having your work on display for the whole world to see was a dream you had harbored your entire life? What if you had said “to heck with law school!” and finally sat down to write that novel you always dreamed you would? 

Fear is a suffocating force and can prevent us from making that leap because there is always the question of “What if I did and failed?” But what if you succeeded?  

I want a life where I wake up every morning eager to get to work and see what the day has to offer. When five o’clock comes around, I want to get a sinking feeling in my stomach because home is not where I rest my head at night, but the desk that I work at every day. I want a moment in my life where I can cry out in joy for what I have accomplished yelling, “Take that world, I won!” Fighting for your dreams is an up hill battle but when things get rough that is when you dig your heels in, pull out your epic walking stick and crawl forward on hands in knees if need be. 

Getting there is the hard part. But more of your years will be spent in a career you love than in the grueling time it takes to get there. Fight for a career you love and against the overbearing weight of society pushing you towards a job that has you wishing for the minutes of your life to tick by.  

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock …