In today’s world, there are so many things one could do to earn a living. There are so many things to keep us busy that sometimes we may fade away into a passive reality, where we are still doing things, but we feel empty.
We may work in a successful business and earn tons of money from our work, but still, we can feel unfulfilled and hollow, like all our success wouldn’t even matter. The pressure the society brings upon us is immense and it can ruin dreams.
Even our families can gnaw away our ambitions by constantly telling us to get a real job and to forget the childish dreams that we once held in our hearts.
But this is a recipe for regret and sadness. No human being can keep doing something just to make others happy without breaking down at some point. This is why it’s so important to find your own path, your own voice to lead you through the adventures of life.
When I was a child, my parents and grandparents used to compliment me for my talents. I was a good cook, a talented musician, and a businessman in their eyes. They told me how I would become a great chef or a musician when I’d grow up and I was filled with happiness once I heard them. I too believed that I’d become a great EDM artist or that I’d start my own restaurant, but the thing is, these were dreams that were built by other people and not entirely by me.
We have to take in count how the mind of a child works. It’s different and it can be made to believe almost anything, but these dreams still remained with me all the way to my teenage years. I really believed that I’d find success in music, but one day, I realized how wrong I had built myself.
I had built expectations for myself and I had forced myself to create music because that’s what everyone told I was good at. I didn’t want my talent to go to waste, thus, I pushed myself to work on it till I couldn’t do it anymore.
I didn’t enjoy making music anymore. Making music wasn’t the absolute value for me, it was the success that I’d gain at a certain point. What pushed me forward was the hunger to fulfil this prophesy that I and my family had created, but this kind of external motivation is dangerous and its power is weak like a dry branch.
If the inspiration and burn don’t come from your heart, it will wear off and you will lose the drive to go forward, which is completely natural. If your motivation is to be a huge star, playing your songs at the biggest festivals, every moment when you’re not that star, you are feeling miserable and frustrated.
I was around 15 when I opened my eyes. I had been making music almost my entire childhood in a form or another, but I also had another dream, a silent voice that tried to grab my attention, yet it had failed for so long.
I had always loved fantasy stories, books, and movies. I had dreamed of creating my own Middle Earth or my own Azeroth. It was something I wanted so badly that it pained me to push that thought aside. And you might be wondering, why did I push something away that clearly made me feel good and inspired?
Well, I pushed it away because I had already committed to fulfilling the dream of becoming a music star. I didn’t enjoy the process of making music anymore, but the feeling of missing out was so immense that I felt like I couldn’t stop now. I had spent too many years on this and I could never get out.
But then, one cold winter night, I sat down and I wrote something. I pushed all my negativity and criticism aside and I just wrote. I created characters, inspired by all the fantasy stories I had read before and suddenly, I felt such fulfilment in my heart that it’s hard to even describe it.
It felt like a lock that had been placed onto my soul would have opened up and all my power and talent was finally free to burst out of me and create something new.
As I wrote, I realized a wonderful truth: Writing was something I truly enjoyed doing. I didn’t need millions to read my work. I didn’t need to be the biggest author on the planet. Just writing a story and creating characters made me feel so incredibly good that I finally realized my purpose in life.
So many of us have pushed their true dreams aside because of the external pressure. One of the reasons I never started writing was because I was afraid of bullying. I feared that I’d become the uncool guy at my school and get bullied more than I had already been bullied.
My fears were external, but even when I was able to avoid that external threat, I felt internal pain and it’s more painful to be in conflict with your self than to fight against the outside world.
Fears of what others would think of us can destroy dreams and careers but hear me now, my friend, do not let others take away something that makes you feel whole. You are worthy of doing the thing you feel good about doing, no matter what others think of you.
So what can you do to find the special something that will make you feel complete?
My suggestion is to listen to the silent voices that you hear in your head. We all have something that we know deep down in our hearts, but we decide not to listen to them, sometimes because of our fears and doubts, and sometimes because of other things. Listen to that voice and allow it to lead you wherever it leads you.
Do not listen to your friends and family on this subject. It can be helpful to get feedback from friends as they tell you what they see as your strengths, but ultimately there is no other who could know you as well as you do yourself.
External motivators or ideas won’t stick. They won’t make you wake up in the morning, filled with energy and happiness. Only the thing that you hold in your heart can make you feel complete and that’s why you have to find it, no matter what it actually is.
Find your own path. Find your voice. And silence the external voices and listen to yourself for once. I promise you won’t regret it!
well said…..
amazing post… excellent
Thank you, my friend! That really made my day 🙂
ahan … great
welcome friend
Your heart knows more than you can imagine. A silent mind, healthy lifestyle and great company can foster the process of knowing what’s your true calling. Feed your focus and starve your distractions.