Encouragement Friday

Keeping The Dream Alive

Growing up we are always told to embrace our dreams and these will turn into goals, and once we finish school, graduate… we’ll land that dream job and get that dream house… except…. it doesn’t always work out that way, does it? I don’t know about you, but after the battle many of us have been through, it feels like life can get derailed pretty easily.

It’s not easy to sit and watch a loved one struggle with how to manage a career while also balancing their health. Extended stays in hospitals and long gaps between jobs can also impact the well being of the person struggling. And, when you are the primary support for a person who struggles with mental health issues, a lot of your dreams get kicked to the curb as well.

It can be overwhelming to think about what you want to do – it feels out of reach. Dreams are not for you, you would say to yourself. Money is too tight, that dream job is too far away in case of an emergency, you are the main breadwinner so you need the benefits. School? At this age? You haven’t been in over 20 years, how does one even write an essay now? How do we manage dreams when we are faced with balancing so many day to day realities?

So how do we still reclaim a dream? The dreams we had at one point might look a little different now. We might not own a house again, or we might not be able to pursue that Masters, or even have kids. Grieving our past is part of the process, and a future post of it’s own, but what I would say today, is that we don’t have to give it up completely. Our dreams might just look a little different.

This is by no means is an answer – life is more complicated than a simple “you can do it!” but sometimes we also just need a reminder today that we ARE capable and our dreams still deserve a place.