Living the Dream

When I was a young boy, I had many dreams and aspirations. Some of the most realistic ones, or at least the ones that drove me to work hard and (try to) be a good person were how I planned to live my young adult life. I dreamed to take over my father's family business, marry the love of my life soon after college, have 2-3 wonderful well-mannered children, and live in a house near where I grew up.

So What Changed?

Life Happened.

Taking over my father's family business was a fine idea, until I grew older and began to think practically about it. By the time I would graduate from college, my father would still be in his prime working years... And he would still need to earn a living for himself and my mother. There's no way I could take over the family business if he still needed to work there too.. the revenues just weren't high enough for that. So I took another path.

Next was marrying the love of my life in my early 20's... I held onto this notion for most of my college years. However, I didn't find my true love, and love of my life until I was in my mid-20s. By that point, I had learned an important lesson from my earlier relationships: don't rush it! You need to get to know the person who you plan to marry very well.. and that can take more than just a few months or even a couple of years.

Having children is a serious life commitment. Before you have a child, you need to be certain that the woman who you marry is going to be there with you for the long-haul. There will be many arguments and challenges you and your partner will face, some related to your child(ren) and some unrelated. You need to have a strong bond before these challenges, or at least an understanding that you will always work through the challenges together, no matter what.

Living in my home town, while a great idea in theory, was another one of those things that I came to realize as I grew older that was less practical than my original dream. Unless I lived with some other gainfully employed post-college graduates, there's no way I could have afforded to live there. Solo living was out of the question.. especially if that meant trying to purchase a home!

Fast Forward to Today

How does Reality compare with the Dream?

I am successful in my career. I value my colleagues, and believe that they value working with me. I'm not complacent though; there are many more things that I would like to accomplish and ways that I can grow in my career. But I believe that I have exceeded the potential of my original dream!

As with most people, the love of my life came along when I least expected her to. I really couldn't have asked for a more perfect person to be my wife. She is everything that I ever could have dreamed of, and more!

We also have an amazing son. There is seriously nothing more awe-inspiring than watching a (your) child learn and grow! Every day with him is a joy, no matter how difficult he may be in some situations. He absorbs knowledge and habits and tendencies like a sponge.. even the ones that you don't want him to.. but that becomes a personal challenge for you to be a better person. You get to act like the good person who you want your child to be like. You get to teach them right from wrong, and you get to hold yourself accountable for when you don't follow those guidelines. There's nothing more challenging or rewarding than watching your child grow up!

Although I don't live in my home town, I live in a wonderful house, in a great city, with a nice yard where I can enjoy relaxing and my son can run around. He'll learn how to mow the lawn, care for the garden, repair items around the house, build things with me in the garage, and so much more!

My life is blessed. My life may not have turned into my dreams, but my dreams have led me to a wonderful life that I look forward to building onto every day!