What Will You Give Up?

Where will your path lead?

There are lots of people (myself included) who will stress the importance of chasing your dreams. We talk about why you should chase them and how it will help you lead the life you are supposed to lead. Most of these people leave out the part about having to give up other things in order to chase your dreams. For some, this may be an obvious fact, but to others, this may come as a surprise.

In some cases, you will know exactly what you will need to give up. If you want a dream career and you start chasing it, you will have to give up the job your currently have. If your dream involves getting in better shape to do something, then you will have to give up some of the food your currently eat. Obvious, right? But, to get in better shape, you will also have to exercise a lot more, which means you have to give up something to have the time to do this. Will it be watching TV or some sleep or reading or going out with friends? For everything we decide to do, we will be giving up things.

If you want to be a great writer, then you need to write every day. Most of us don't have tons of time we are looking to fill in our days, so something has to be given up. The same is true with any dream requiring practice (and the vast majority do). These decisions aren't always easy, either. When we have been doing anything for a period of time, it is difficult to give it up to start something else. What are you willing to give up to chase your dreams? Money? Sleep? Friends? Hobbies? TV?

You may look at the previous list and think you wouldn't have to give up your friends to chase your dreams. Once you start chasing them, you will realize there are people who just don't understand the new direction you are taking. There are other people who feel slighted because you aren't spending as much time with them because you are chasing your dreams. Some people will drift out of your life, but the true friends will still be there, even when you don't speak with them for extended periods. When you start chasing your dreams, you start moving down a path you haven't followed before. You will never see what is along this path until you start moving down it.

No one ever said chasing our dreams is going to be easy and many of us didn't realize we would have to give up so many things in order to chase them. They wouldn't be real dreams if they were easy, now would they? The greatest things in life are often the hardest to get. To chase your dreams, you will have to make some tough decisions. You will have to stop doing some things you enjoy doing. Some people will be unhappy. These are your dreams...what's stopping you from chasing them?