Life is a journey, not a race

When I was child, my teacher, relatives, parents always asked me What do you want to be when you grow up? The joy that this question often brings is generated from the limitless imagination that we all possess as kids. Rather than question whether our dreams are realistic or not, we allow our dreams to soar and our fantasies to come alive with excitement. So what happens when we grow older? Where do all our dreams and fantasies go? 

In my experience, the older I got the more limited my response to that question became. When I was child, I  have a number of option teacher, pilot, doctor, politician and a lot more. But you know, I never thought that I will be an Engineer. . . It is something unexpected, because when I was a child, I was not aware about Engineer as a career.   I was told to not set the bar too high for myself or to create expectations that I could not reach, so that I would not get disappointed if they didn’t come true. It’s that “fail safe,” prepare-for-the-worst-case-scenario belief system that I was taught to believe as truth at a young age. What I didn't realize at the time was that many years down the road this belief would be one of the foundational paradigms that started me on a path of questioning ALL that I had been taught to be true, and allowed me to take my first steps toward creating a new life path, and travel the road less traveled.

The reason it is called the road less traveled is simply because most of us spend our time living a life that was laid out for us, step by step. Get School education, go to college/university, get a degree, get a job, make a living to support ourselves, find a partner, have a family, support our family, work hard so we can enjoy life later, kids grow up , retire from our jobs and finally you can ENJOY your life—or what is left of it. Sound familiar? When I was in university I faced a similar predicament: Do I follow the path that I was told I should follow in order to make a good living and live a successful life? Or do I venture off and create a new path—one that felt SO much better to me, filled with passion, adventure, and purpose?

Creating my own path at the time was largely unknown, and I feared taking that first step on my own. I was in my second year of university and I had reached my boiling point. All that I was taught to believe and told to do had created major challenges in my life. I had followed the path that was laid out for me and instead of being happy and successful, I was sick and depressed. I was in desperate need of some inspiration and guidance so I turned to my uncle for some help. It was in witnessing the inspired action that he had taken in his own life, to create a new path of self-discovery and positive transformation that inspired me to do the same. With the help of my uncle I courageously took that first step and began creating a new life for myself.

One of the first lessons I learned was that life is a journey, not a race. And that every experience should be savored along the way, not rushed through to get to the proverbial finish line. This allowed me to ease my way step by step into uncharted waters, not knowing where I was going, but trusting that with courage, passion, patience—and most importantly faith—I would end up where I was supposed to be, when I was supposed to get there. 

 I was  studying things for a major that I hate but merely because it pays well or you are "supposed" to be a productive member of society and just exist.  I hate it. Like to "get a degree that pays well, go be a productive member of society, have a family, retire, and then the grave." I want to be a author someday and I'm not going to waste my life studying or doing something other than that cause I would hate it. I don't care if it doesn't pay well either. By faith in God I trust that I'll achieve that goal someday. I don't care what others think of me either. I will be positive and I will be successful if I put in the work and the effort.

What do you want to be when you grow up.....?

Its a important question, you should think and should work for that ..... instead of thinking that your friend is doing, you should do, your brother is doing, you should.  Create your life path, make people to follow you instead of you follow the people.   Life is small, its a journey, not a race. Don't compare yourself with any other, because you have some qualities which any other doesn't have. You are unique. Keep smiling , because there are a number of people who smile when you do.