Life is funny. No seriously, it is. More often than not it's only funny to someone else who enjoys watching other people suffer, but yeah, life is funny. And, more often than that, life is very much ironic. Also, it always has a way of surprising you, for better or for worse. See, there comes a point in a person's life where everything that they had planned on doing, or becoming, when they were children and teenagers suddenly takes a complete turn around.
For instance, let's take little Billy. He had always dreamed of being a superhero when he was a boy. He grew up watching Superman, Batman, Spiderman, all the great superheros, and he even dressed up as his favorite heros and played all day long with his action figures. But then, he begins to grow up and soon realizes that superheros aren't real. They're just actors who pretend to be superheros. When that dream has died, Billy decides he wants to be... oh, let's say a firefighter. But then, one day, Billy's house catches on fire, and from that day on, Billy is terrified of fire and no longer wants to be a firefighter, for fear of being burned alive. With another dream dead, Billy is now a teenager and decides that he wants to be a scientist. But, his high school grades in science and math classes are horrible, and his teachers and his parents all tell him that he will never get into a college and study science with grades like that. So, once again, his dream dies. But wait, now little Billy is a grown man.
What will he do now? He finally decided to study English, and is now a high school English teacher. Sure, he makes a decent living; enough to pay the bills and live semi-comfortably. But, is Billy happy? Is he? No. No he is not. Because becoming an English teacher was never in his dreams. He never would have predicted that he'd end up at this point in his life, stuck in a career he has no passion for. But, all of Billy's dreams from childhood have died. He has no more dreams, or if he does, he doesn't share them with anyone for fear of being judged... and fear that those dreams too, will die. Just like all the others. So, he stays in his job, and lives the rest of his life without ever pursing any of his dreams.
Now, let's take another example. Little Sarah. Ah yes, precious little Sarah. Her dream is to become a world famous ballerina. She just loves to dance, with her tutu, her little leotard and cute ballet slippers. But, the more lessons she takes, the more she becomes discouraged; all the other little girls are so much better than her, so much more advanced. She comes to a point where she is so discouraged in her own ability to dance that she gives up entirely. Her dream is dead. Now, another dream of Sarah's is to become a world famous painter. She loves to paint. All the pretty colors, she just loves to let her imagination run free. But... when her parents start to give her art lessons, her teacher discourages Sarah's creativity. "No, Sarah, you cannot paint the horse pink! Horses are not pink, Sarah! No, Sarah, you cannot paint the sky green! The sky is blue, Sarah, BLUE! Not GREEN! Get it right!" And so, Sarah stops taking the art lessons. Another dream, dead.
Now, Sarah is a teenager and her new dream is to become a nurse. But, one day while Sarah is driving around town, she comes across a horrible car accident. The sight of the mangled cars gives her a sick feeling in her stomach, and when she sees a body being zipped into a body bag, she almost passes out. But worst of all, there's blood on the road, a sight that makes her gag and drive away as fast as she can. This sight will haunt her for the rest of her life, and so now, with this new fear of death and blood, Sarah will not be becoming a nurse any time soon. So, this dream dies a slow death.
Sarah is now an adult, and is working at as a secretary at a big fashion design studio. Sure, the pay is good and she gets the chance to do what most girls dream of, being surrounded all day by the latest fashions and top models. But, is Sarah happy? No. Not in the least. This was never her dream, it was never even an option. But, what can she do? All her other dreams died with her childhood. She would love to fulfill her dreams, but is too afraid of being ridiculed by her family and friends. And so, Sarah stays at her job, every day dying a little on the inside.
Life is funny, isn't it?
Sorry, but I've had these thoughts kind of rolling around in my head since Thursday. Got a couple other blog posts I'm thinking about/working on (damn... I've been writing A LOT of these things lately... oh well, it gives me something to do besides babysit and go to rehearsal. Not that I don't like rehearsal, but I always look forward to the weekend where I can sleep in and not have to get up at 7 in the morning.) Anyway, until next time, my dear readers. Ciao!
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