Dreams

"But there is suffering in life, and there are defeats. No one can avoid them. But it's better to lose some of the battles in the struggles for your dreams than to be defeated without ever knowing what you're fighting for.”
- The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho

Life is but a dream. I hold my dreams very close to my heart, from the small ones I envision at night, to the child-like ambitions I've cherished all my life. Dreams...they can be quite personal, can't they?

So when someone tells me "Keep your dreams and reality separate..." I wonder how mundane life would be without dreams to cherish? Are dreams really that different from our reality? It is but the dream that we envision that allows us to shape our future.

The other day I went to a party and got talking to this girl and after the boring "what do you do stuff" she casually mentioned that she thought I was really brave to follow my dreams, and to be honest I never thought of myself to be brave. I just did what I thought I should do, keep focused. I see people who change their career paths and achieve wonders, and those are the ones I think are brave. Moi? I'm just a silly little girl who manages to spit out a few words now and then...

The above quote is by Paulo Coelho, I think it's from his book The Alchemist. I don't have the book with me so I can't double check. I read his books much before I had even heard about positive thinking, The Secret and the sort of stuff that make dreams happen. I chanced on his book "Eleven Minutes" when I saw a classmate reading it. The Alchemist was the second book of his that I read and I admit it did change my life...not in the way that miracles do, but in the quite, shy manner that great authors inspire. I know calling Mr. Coelho a great author might be of doubt to some (my brother doesn't think much of his writings, he's more of a non-fiction dude and I say, each one to their own), but to me the word great can be used for someone who can even inspire a single person.

The Alchemist talks about achieving dreams... and to simply put it, our goals maybe closer than we think, but the journey we go through to achieve the goal, the sense of satisfaction the journey causes, and the teachings you learn along the way are just as important as the dream itself. It can be taken from a different point of view, but this is what I'm sticking to.

“Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.”
- Paulo Coelho

So you see, dreams to me are not just silly little thoughts. They are visions to the future, visions of a secret desire, visions that make life beautiful. As a shy, little, insecure girl I dreamt that I will be whoever I wanted to be, I will carve my own path being able to stand my own ground. It's not something impossible, I know I can achieve it, most days I feel sorry for the people around me, some days I feel sorry for myself. I have moments of weakness, and in those times I think of what the future will be, and how tiny these moments are compared to the satisfaction of achieving my dream.

I may not achieve everything, but even if I become a single per cent of the woman I envisioned to be, I will know the journey was worth the while.

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
- Paulo Coelho

XXX