When do we actually give up our dreams and aspirations?

When we are young, we have all sorts of dreams. Some dreams are really stupid and others are real. Real in a sense that they can be achieved; others so stupid that as adults when we look back, we just laugh at how silly such dreams are now that we are much older.

I also know that as we grow, the dreams and aspirations keep changing. But not all change. In fact we seem to add onto those that we had from the time we were little. And as we look back on our lives, we realize that some dreams never change. As we grow they become clearer. They influence what we decide to do with our lives. What kind of places we decide to stay in, what kind of company we keep, how we spend our free time and what kind of life we finally live. 

I have some dreams that I have been chasing from the time I was little. Then as a little kid, they were vague, but as I grew, the path became more clear and visible. I have been treading that path. Down the valleys and through bends, mist, fog and at times muddy ugly paths but with the hope that I will arrive at the other side and achieve my dreams.

   Just tread the path.

But every time I take a bend, hoping to see the other side, I only find yet another bend and the path continues.  Every time I ascend a particular top, normally after a long struggle, hoping that I have now arrived, only to find yet another top higher and steeper than the previous one. Basically, the path to my dreams and aspirations though clear keeps getting tougher and longer than I expected. As much as I have covered much distance, I still have not arrived. The only confidence that keeps me going is the truth of knowing that I am closer today than I was yesterday.

The fear and ugly fact is that our life span is limited. It is obvious that at the age of 60 years and above, I will not have the strength and energy to climb any steep hills in pursuit of my dreams and aspirations.  As I mentioned before, the path is clear and visible but it’s just not taking me to the summit. I don’t believe in short cuts. I will keep on the path. But until when?

So  when do people realize that the dreams they are following, the dreams that made them change their lives, the dreams that made them tread a particular path cannot be achieved. When do they stop chasing the dream? Is it when they cannot chase it any longer?? Is it when they lose interest? Is it when they finally collapse along the path?? Or could it be a combination of all.

In my search for answers, I finally came to the conclusion that the path is the dream. The summit is the targets that we set out to archive.  And as long as we don’t set visible targets, we shall continue treading that path, ascending summit after summit yet arriving at no summit. For us to achieve the targets, we must keep treading the path that we chose. And on that particular path, set tangible targets that we shall ascend or achieve as we tread.

When my time finally comes, when I cannot chase the dream any further, when I cannot follow my destined path, then I will look back at the targets along the path that I hit, those that I missed and sigh a sigh of relief, well knowing that I have lived my dream, I stayed on the path despite the fact that I will not have completed it.

So when do we actually give up our dreams and aspirations? I believe it’s when we give up on treading the chosen path. When we alter our beliefs; when we discard the destined course; then we have actually given up on our dreams and aspirations. Let’s always remember that the path is the dream and the targets along that path are some of our aspirations. And each target achieved is a summit. There is never a time when we shall achieve all our dreams. Just tread the path. The path is the dream.