Invest In Your Dreams

Since an early age, most have us have heard the phrase “invest in your future” by a number of mentors. Be it your parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, friends or whomever you look up to; this is a common piece of advice to stumble upon throughout your developmental years. At the age of 28, a burning question snuck into my psyche: Are we as Americans so consumed by investing in our future that we are neglecting our present? I am not suggesting a life of complete leisure with a lack of respect for setting yourself up for both personal and professional success, however, I am suggesting a balance.

I certainly can’t speak for every child in America when I say this, but much of the company I have kept over the years were instructed to follow a similar algorithm, which in turn, would lead to “success” : Get good grades in High School so you can be accepted into a good University, get good grades in college so you could land a good job upon graduation, Invest in your 401K so you can eventually retire with a nice chunk of change to live comfortably, and so on and so forth. While all of these “tips” are great pieces of advice to adhere to, what strikes me as odd is that we are constantly focused on the next phase of our life, instead of the current one. As cliché as it may sound, I think many of us (including myself) need to “stop and smell the roses” a bit more, instead of exclusively focusing on our future. We need to be more present, in our present.

Part of doing this is realizing that “success” is a relative word. My version of success is not necessarily the same as the next person’s. YOU have to decide what success means to you, rather than blindly following a path that will lead you to what society deems as successful. Societal pressures for the “right” age for marriage, babies, buying a house and living the “American Dream” are all around us, and sometimes it’s difficult to not succumb to these. For the most part, people inherently want to fit in and even if we are doing so subconsciously, I believe this can lead to unnecessary stress. Truly examining what makes you happy and content takes time and effort and is often a work in progress. Sometimes it’s not even that we aren’t following our dreams, it’s more so that we haven’t taken the time to discover what our dreams really are.

I recently watched an AMAZINGLY motivational Youtube video entitled “Everybody Dies, But Not Everybody Lives” (link can be found at the bottom of my article), which is all about living your life to the fullest. Prince Ea, the creator of the video, opens with the concept that, “It is not death most people are afraid of, it’s getting to the end of life only to realize you never truly lived.” This really struck a chord with me. According to the video, there was a hospital study done on 100 elderly people who were nearing the age of death. When asked about their life’s greatest regret, there was a general theme amongst the majority of the participants that they didn’t regret the things that they had done, rather the things that they hadn’t gotten to. This got me thinking about the obvious yet often ignored fact of life : We never know when “our time” is up. Focusing entirely on the future is a bit presumptuous being that we don’t get to decide how long we’ve got. Wouldn’t it be sad to constantly plan for a future you may never get to enjoy? Shouldn’t we be engaged in our present a little bit more and devoting our efforts to “the now”, since in essence, that is all we are truly promised?

My favorite movie is A Bronx Tale. One of the many pearls of wisdom that can be extracted from the film (other than the door test) is that, “The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.” The most beautiful thing about humanity is the diversity and the unique gifts that exist; gifts that are meant to be shared. Instead of living by the American standard to “invest in your future”, maybe it’s better to instill the notion in young minds to invest in your dreams. Live the life you’re  meant to live, and don’t let doubt and fear prevent you from doing so. We all have had the unfortunate experience of watching people we know and love go too soon. Let them be a reminder that each and every day is a blessing, one that should never be taken for granted. Less planning and more living.

Love and Light,

Meyer’s Grace