“Basia, so what do you want to do after graduation?”
This is the question I get asked the most. There is nothing wrong with it, yet every time I hear it, something in my stomach turns upside down and I get a little bit nervous.
When my mom asked me that question today, I cried. Why? Because I’m scared. “What are you so afraid of?” – she said. “I’m afraid of the unknown” “But if you don’t know what will happen then how can you be afraid of it?”
I thought a lot about the topic called “future“, believe me. I asked my friends the same question I get asked multiple times a week. Talking to people made me realize that it is not only about not knowing what will happen and fearing the “after graduation” life. The funny thing is that when I changed the question from “what do you want to do after graduation?” to “if you could do anything, have any kind of job in the world, what would it be? What would that dream job be?” – every singe person was able to answer.
We all have dreams and deep down inside we know what we think, would be right for us. It’s just very hard to talk about it out loud. Why? I think it’s because it seems impossible to achieve, according to some. We come up with answers that will make us sound good and “figured out” and that will satisfy those who care about us and wish us well. Honestly I feel like because of that we don’t really do what we actually want to do. We run away, get scared.
When you ask a 4 year old : hey, what do you want to do when you grow up? Oh they will tell you right away! I want to be a policeman or an astronaut or I want to be a famous singer. I don’t think they are scared to dream of that.
I know that we can’t always do exactly what we want but… what if you never try? Or what if it’s sooooo hard, it’s just better to give up after one failure?
Nothing that has value in life, NOTHING, comes easy. Success doesn’t happen over night. Those people we look up to didn’t get where they are just like that. I know it..and you know it too. Yes, having luck is one thing, but persistence is way more important and without it, even luck can’t help it.
It’s not about the fear of what will happen, it’s more about how hard you are willing to work to make that inner dream come true. The dream that is driving you crazy each time you think it could actually happen. The one you are so afraid of..
It’s easy to find substitutes. I am a master of running away from my biggest dreams. Are you?
What is your dream? What are you running away from? When you close your eyes, what would you wish your life could be?
I know what it is for me and I know you know what it is for you. Let me tell you something. It will be hard and it will take you a few years to get it, but you know what? It will happen if you just not stop, never ever stop. Couple of years from now you will sit in a chair and thank yourself that you did it, that all this hard work brought you to where you should be.
But please, do it. Promise me and yourself that no matter what, you will at least try. Not the “I tried and it didn’t work out” but the “I gave my heart into it and it wasn’t “it” but because of my hard work I am now in a different place, a happy place, a place I wouldn’t be if I didn’t dream”
The destination can change, but if you never take a chance and the road to your dreams, you will never know what you could have had.
Love,
Happy Days 