A Reminder to Follow your Dreams

Most of us have dreams and plans for our future – some of them are even likely to come true. But along the way some of these dreams get dropped, traded for others or are just simply forgotten.

Even if it was something that could’ve been accomplished.

Today I want to tell you a story of how I traded a dream for something else but got a reminder just at the right time so it could still come true.

Let this be your reminder today.

An example from my life

The dream

When I started studying I had it all planned out: In my fifth semester I would go to China and stay there for a year to finish my degree. So I started working towards that goal, making sure there would be nothing holding me back when the time came.

Doubts

One and a half years later when it came time to apply I suddenly started to doubt it all. I was scared of leaving the comfort I had finally found in my new home. I had made friends at Uni, I had gotten into a relationship that was developing nicely. It just felt too risky to leave it all behind.

But then again it would only be temporary. One year was the original plan but this suddenly seemed too long. I was scared. It was a strange feeling because it came so unexpectedly. I had not been scared of moving away from family and friends before – not to that extent at least. It was a new feeling and I didn’t want to feel it.

Setback

So I settled for one semester and applied. But then something else happened that I didn’t expect: I got rejected. I don’t usually believe in signs but at that time I was so disappointed that I just took it as one. I thought it was just not meant to be and I was ready to move on. That would’ve been it.

Until I mentioned to my roommate that I was thinking about not going anymore. She reacted differently from everybody I had talked to before that. She reacted exactly the way I needed her to.

Wake up call

“I’m really surprised to hear that”, she said. “And it also kinda saddens me.”

I was stunned. Nobody had said that before. Most of the others I had talked to were comforting me on the rejection part but also told me they were glad I’d be staying.

She continued: “I remember vividly that when I moved in, you talked about it so passionately that I thought it was a sure thing.”

So had I. After that moment I started to remember that same feeling again that I had when I just started studying. And I applied to a different organization.

Dream x Reality

This time I got in and it was an emotional roller coaster. All the feelings related to the fear of losing what I had at home were still there. But there was also the excitement for the adventure I was about to embark on.

I’d only applied for one semester – a compromise between my dreams and fears. (And in retrospect, I couldn’t have stayed for the second half of the year anyway, with everything going on right now.)

So I left comfort to live out a dream. And I was only gone for 4 and a half month. That’s really not that long, it went by in a blink of an eye. But before my head had built it up to be something way scarier than it actually was.

The reminder

Just because you’re happy with your current situation doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice other things. I was scared I wouldn’t be as close with my friends anymore after coming back. I was scared that it might cause a break up. And it could’ve. But it didn’t.

Sometimes you need just a reminder. What would the ‘you a couple of years ago‘ think about your choices today? Younger me would’ve been really disappointed.