The Tragedy of Life Doesn’t Lie-Daily Meditation 6.29.23

Today’s quotation:

The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal.  The tragedy lies in having no plan to reach.  It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. . . . It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for.  Not failure, but low aim is sin.-
Benjamin Elijah

Today’s Meditation:

Life was made for dreaming, wasn’t it?  Somehow, the human mind does wonderful things when we can dream, envision better futures, and think of something that may not be now but could be.  We all have dreams, and one of the major differences between people is that some of us pursue our dreams, while others lock them in a closet and don’t let them out because we think it’s a waste of time to “chase” our dreams.

I believe we’ve been given dreams for a reason, and that reason is not just to tease us or make us feel bad because our life doesn’t resemble our dreams.  I believe that the reason is that our dreams give us an idea of what our lives could be if we decide to work towards making our dreams come true.  Because if we weren’t to pursue our dreams and try to make our lives more fulfilling and positive, what would our lives become?

Our dreams don’t need to be the sole focus of our lives–many of us find pleasure and fulfillment in work that doesn’t necessarily work that we’ve dreamed about our whole lives.  Our dreams can be something that we pursue outside of work, and many people are.  We can contribute significantly to the world through our work, and we can contribute to our fulfillment and happiness through the pursuit of our dreams.  Finding a balance between the two can be challenging, but it’s usually possible.

Not all dreams will come true, of course.  Sometimes, the journey toward fulfilling the goal is more important than fulfilling the goal itself.  We can learn a great deal about ourselves and life while we pursue dreams, and even if we don’t reach that dream, we’ve learned a lot that we can use in our subsequent pursuit.

What dreams would you like to pursue?  They can be as simple as living in a particular place, as complicated as writing a trilogy of novels, as exciting as traveling to remote locations, or as “mundane” as having a safe, comfortable place to live.  No matter what your dreams are, they’re worth considering and pursuing, as they can add a purpose to your life that might not have been there yesterday before you took a good hard look at your dreams.

Questions to consider:

Why do so many people decide not to pursue their dreams?

What would be the first step towards fulfilling a dream that you’ve had?  A second step?

Why do so many people feel devastated if they pursue a dream and don’t achieve it?  What are they ignoring when they allow the negative feelings to overwhelm them?

For further thought:

I dare to dream greatly; I dare to fail greatly.  I dare to tolerate the ashes of my unfulfilled dreams, for I may dream again.  I dare not tolerate the ashes of my unhappy life, for I may never live again.-Philippos

If you missed our last Daily Meditation, it is here.