What Grown-up Dreams are Made of
Happiness is the goal for me now
When I was a kid, I remember writing down the different things that I wanted to be when I grew up. They looked a lot like some other kids’ dream jobs — Veterinarian, Doctor, Singer, Actress. Then, as I got older, I had less and less of an aspiration to become any of these things. Throughout middle school, high school, and even college, my mentality for success was to just do well in school, get good grades, and graduate. Finishing was the accomplishment in itself. I figured that if I could successfully finish school, then that would be enough to translate into a successful career. And for the most part, it did.
I got a job immediately after graduating college. I moved to New York City, got my own apartment, and now make a decent income. I’m able to comfortably pay my bills and enjoy my life. However, the thing that I never got around to figuring out was what I really wanted to do with my life. Somewhere along the way, I forgot about that age old question of, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” I somehow forgot about the big picture because I was too busy focusing on making sure that I was succeeding “in the now”— and I don’t necessarily regret that. After all, one of the biggest pieces of advice that people give is to live more in the now. But, perhaps I was living too much in the now that I forgot about where I wanted to be at the end of it.
Now, that the question is finally coming back around to me, I’m realizing my grown-up dreams look a lot different from my childhood dreams. My grown-up dreams aren’t to be a Veterinarian or a Doctor or a Singer or an Actress. My dreams aren’t to save the world. They’re not to make a ton of money or buy a big mansion or own my own company. Instead, my grown-up dreams are to just be happy and lead a good live. Happiness is the goal for me now. And I’m grateful to say that I have achieved goal that, for the most part. My grown-up dreams are to lead a happy and healthy life, enjoy it with the people whom I love, and be able do the things that I love. At the end of the day, I realized that’s what really matters to me.
Of course, I’d still love to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I would still love to find a career that I’m so passionate about that I wake up eager and excited to go to work. I want to have integrity in what I do for a living. But in all honestly, that would just be an added bonus to the life that I already have. Although I hope to one day figure out what I want to be, for now I’ll just enjoy the life that I’m living.
