Dreamer

At 4 she wanted to be a princess.

At 6 she wanted to be an astronaut.

At 8 she wanted to be veterinarian.

At 10 she wanted to be a doctor.

At 13 she wants to be a professional cheerleader.

But at 16 she realized that school was hard. Math and science simply weren’t for her.

History was hard, and essays didn’t come with ease.

At 18 she graduated high school unsure of what her future holds. An undecided major and no clue what she wanted to be.

It’s that first heartbreak that we all experience without even recognizing it. It’s being young and full of youth and setting your mind to something without even realizing the probability of it not happening. It’s being a teenager and wanting to make a career out of a sport without noticing that some professional athletes don’t get paid enough to make a living. It’s being a young adult and feeling behind in life because your major is undecided. And then feeling like a failure for changing your major three years into college. It’s being 30 and watching your life pass by with your dreams still in your heart.

I don’t know about you, but this was my first heartbreak. The one that nobody prepared me for. The one that nobody labels a heartbreak yet they can still feel it deep in their chest. The one that everyone says “push it under the rug, it’s for the best anyway. You need to make a living.” It’s the one that I kick myself for every. Single. Day. It sits in the deepest parts of my soul, just waiting to be free.

It’s ironic though. I spent years studying and memorizing things throughout grade school that have no application to my life. All they did was teach me that I am not smart enough to accomplish all the goals that I hold inside. Yet somehow, they haven’t prepared me to achieve the inevitable such as taxes or credit.

How can we encourage our youth but hold the door for their dreams? How can we comfort them over relationships that lead to heartbreak but dismiss their heartbreak for a passion?

And so, I say this all, simply to say: Don’t let your dreams be your first heartbreak. Let them be the fire in your soul that drives your every breath. Let them be the reason you wake up in the morning. Let them be the reason that your dying breath isn’t painful. Let them be the reason that your 4 year old self is living vicariously through you. Life is too short to succumb to heartbreak. No matter your age, your dreams are still waiting.