The Dreamer Dilemma

You know who you are. The individual who favors slumber over time awake, since it means you can create an alternate reality. A student who daydreams in class and lays their head down at every possible free moment. Work drags on, so you choose to fantasize instead. You dream of the future: A perfect career, family and life in general. Getting lost in your thoughts is a daily task. For example, you do not merely listen to music, you drown in it. Reality is too mediocre for you to handle, and you get disappointed easily. Those high expectations always fail to follow through and sometimes your success is not good enough for you. You always crave more to satisfy you. This, in turn, leads to a spiral of highs and lows, but you always end up feeling sad in the end. Inevitably, you will always be stuck in reality. So, what does a dreamer like you do?

The key to happiness when you have a tendency to think about the future and dream up scenarios in your head is simple. You need to learn to live in the present and make your reality as awesome as possible. It is important to keep your head out of the clouds and plant your feet firmly on the ground. Plan short-term goals and do what is best for you now. It will only be difficult to do this if you dwell on the past and dream of the future. Live in the present and you will be content.

To improve your reality will take plenty of work, but it is worth it. It’s not fulfilling to always dwell on the future and what could be. Instead, you should focus on what will be once you put your mind to it. Take it day by day, performing small tasks that you need (and want) to do. This process does not need to be void of fun. But the enjoyable tasks are going to be ones that are manageable and possible. If you start thinking of fantasy scenarios that you want to take part in, that will not help. Once those plans fall through, you will feel wistful. This also applies to other average plans for your future. Living in the present does not mean completely disregarding your future. It just means that you will not constantly think of what’s next, unless your planning is necessary, like for school, or a career. But it should not reach a point where that is all you are thinking about, that’s all.

Abolishing your dreamlike aspect of yourself is not the solution. Being a dreamer is not necessarily a bad characteristic or “wrong.” But sometimes, it gets to a point when having high hopes and not living up to them can turn depressing. If you dream less and live in your reality more, you will be more productive and make goals that you can actually achieve. In turn, sleeping will not be required. You’ll live the dream.