Living the Dream

We all have an internal image of our ideal life.

We each of us all have dreams we want achieve within this reality.

Living the dream is a very real concept towards which we should all aspire, but modern society has turned that phrase into a demarcation of utter irony and sarcasm bitter. For instance, in my old workplace at a top bank, when someone seemed be suffering at some particularly complex or tedious or onerous assignment, when asked "how's it going," the most common refrain became 'living the dream.'

But really, that phrase has far more value than that. And it deserves much better than casual banter used as a common platitude by those who find themselves wallowing in an unwanted situation or fording across some undesired strait.

In truth we should be forever wielding that phrase in accordance with its original meaning. And we should strive towards remaking our reality until those simple words suit our life--because we all have dreams unto which we aspire, and most of them are almost invariably achievable with sufficient amounts of dedication and effort and concerted focus.

It all starts with making a plan. For if you lack even an outline conception of what your dream existence entails, never can you start striving towards those heights.

So open a file on your computer and commence that process right now. Start writing down everything you'd need accomplish or obtain before you could safely say you're officially living the dream.

Perhaps your life dreams involve seeing some exotic locale or engaging in some particular adventure or activity. Perhaps they involve saving enough money where you can retire in leisure on the white sands of some faraway beach and stare all day at crystal-blue waters of tropical seas.

Whatever your dreams happen be, write all of them down. Sketch out a simple conception of what your dream life would entail.

Then start making a blueprint of how to reach those goals.

Once you sit down and start crunching numbers--once you devote yourself utterly towards the task of making your dreams into reality instead of just letting them linger somewhere in the confines of your imagination--you'll undoubtedly find that many of them are achievable with nothing more than a little extra hard work and sacrifice. And you'll invariably discover that some of those dreams you might be able to accomplish right now.

Maybe you yearn to start racing cars. Maybe you want to jump out of an airplane. Maybe you've always wanted to work towards becoming a better singer.

Well, realistically, nothing is stopping you from pursuing any of those activities at this very moment. So why wait?

Start researching local racetracks and lesson costs. Look for nearby parachuting places or voice coaches.

Then stop making excuses why you can't or shouldn't do those things. Just get out there and do them--because after they're done and you've got a few dreams checked off your list and tucked safely under your belt, you'll start realizing: This is way easier than you thought.

All it takes is a direction in which to move, a goal towards which to work. Then all you need is the motivation to get started.

Then, after you complete a few of those dream activities you'll have an epiphany worth more than any amount of money you spent on completing those aims. You'll realize that throughout your entire life, nothing has ever been holding you back but yourself.

"But I can't find the money to pursue my dreams," many people say. "But I can't find the time."

Whenever I hear that, I ask how much money they waste each month on unnecessary expenses like dining out and alcohol and going out to the movies.

Then I ask them some very simple questions:

Would you rather watch a movie of someone else living an epic life, or would you rather save that money and start living that epic life for yourself?

Would you rather go out for the thousandth time and eat chicken fingers at Applebee's or breadsticks at The Olive Garden, or would you rather save that money and forgo those banalities until you can afford a seven-course meal in Paris?

And would you really rather punish your liver and brain for another weekend, rather than reallocate that capital towards activities that enrich your life and enhance your mind?

I've been to multiple continents, driven flat-out around the most dangerous racetrack in the world, canoed up the Amazon basin, climbed to over 16,000', skied down a mountain, snowmobiled up another mountain, bungee jumped from over 400' in the air, maxed out a car on the autobahn, camped out for weeks in the Amazon rainforest, explored the limits of my consciousness with a multi-generational shaman, authored several books, backpacked for days through the Andes mountains, and have eaten in and explored countless amazing cities throughout some of the finest places in the world. And that's just off the top of my head.

I don't have a trust fund. I didn't have an exceptionally lucrative 1%-income job. All I had (have) was the will and desire towards remaking my existence in the image of my dreams.

Then those things became possible because I decided to start living my dreams instead of coasting through life doing what everyone else does.

When I tell people about those things, invariably they're interested. Then inevitably they want to hear more about me and my life.

But if I mention I spent over four years drinking every weekend throughout college whilst hanging out with my fraternity and clubbing all the time, no one gives an eff. And if I mention I've probably eaten in Applebees and Olive Garden hundreds of times across the course of my life, and that I've seen hundreds upon hundreds of movies, they remain nonplussed.

No one cares about people drinking on the weekends or going to clubs. No one cares about your meal at Applebees or Olive Garden or the number of times you've watched movies.

Not even you should give a # about those things... because none of those activities will take you any closer towards an apex state of living the dream.

We've all experienced those facets of the "normal" American life... and we can all agree they suck.

So why not give them all up entirely and save that money for things that truly matter in life? Why not reallocate your interests and re-engineer your life towards doing only those things that truly matter?

Why not start working towards living your dreams?

You might not realize it yet--and you might never realize it until you take a chance and start that process of remaking your reality for yourself--but like I said before:

The only reason you're not living your dreams is the person staring back at you in the mirror.

So resolve towards doing things differently going forward. Make a vow that beginning right now you'll start working towards remodeling your life.

Make that list of your dream existence. Start making a real blueprint towards achieving your goals.

Then start working at achieving them. One by one, bring your dreams into reality.

And one day at a time, start working at giving back that phrase its real meaning.

Then you'll soon realize: The only thing keeping you from living the life you want is you.

And the only things you stand lose are an endless string of drinking, clubbing, eating awful food, and wasting your life staring at other people on the big screen whilst they live the adventurous lives you truly want.

So start living your dreams. I promise you'll never regret it.

And you'll never look back.

Everything you post on here uplifts the beauty of the Soul. You must have been a Sun in another life giving the flowers a reason to reach higher. Thank you for your truth of encouragement and the positive vibrations that emanate from the words you bless us with. If we all began to live our dreams then perhaps we'd break the lucid foundation programmed into the depths of our psyche that mainstream has us wandering around in, passing down to generations. I'm on my way.

a reply to: NautPsycho

Thanks for the kind words--you made my night a lot brighter!

Living my dream involves making no plans for anything. Day at a time. Making long term plans makes me die a little inside.
Future trippin' bro I don't do that.

A guy I knew who was an Iraq vet would always say "Living the dream, one nightmare at a time."

originally posted by: corvuscorrax
A guy I knew who was an Iraq vet would always say "Living the dream, one nightmare at a time."

Yeah, that's exactly the kind of misuse of the phrase that should be eliminated.

Living the real dream is possible for anyone--and it's so incredibly simple that it's disappointing more people don't put in the scant amount of effort necessary towards making their dreams possible.

It's a little tougher for us in the 3rd world. The choices are far more limited in life, everything is more expensive (by global context)

And all of the better places in the world places heavy restrictions on our movement through the immigration system.

We only have limited windows of opportunity to "live the dream" and that is usually first by immigrating to a western country.

Even the rich in 3rd world would immigrate to the West if it is a convenient option for them.


Our exposure to the Western culture is both a curse and a blessing. It is a blessing because it opened our minds to higher learning and sound reasoning/logic. It is a curse because it opened a door to widespread discontentment of a dream most of us will never even have a taste in this life.

We all can't have cars, widescreen TVs, gadgets & gizmos, signature apparel, travel, and the bling, etc, etc. Sadly, the world figured out to exploit our discontentment and use it for their own monetary gain. If life here is hard enough, the west made us their milking cows. Both as consumers and cheap producers of their stuff.

The world is standing on the backs of the poor.


The dreams most of you have is only made possible through ignorance. It is never real until the world is made right....

And that's my dream - to make this world right. To change the status quo. To change the system. To give us Third World the same chance in life as the West. To stop our exploitation as cheap labor. To use Artificial Intelligence to help make this transition, to end the use of money. To automate everything which may include administration of a nation. The AI will have a huge part to play.

a reply to: johndeere2020

Super-interesting point you bring up. For those living in impoverished conditions within states and nations that lack viable opportunities for real economic advancement, a lot of dreams might remain out of reach.

But there are still tons more you (and anyone) can accomplish--such as the dream of becoming the best person possible, of spreading the most love, of being the most kind and compassionate and giving.

Even if you're trapped in a nightmare-like situation and don't have ostensible access unto material dreams like racing cars and going on expeditions, you can still live out those most important dreams of all: Refining yourself until you serve as a light for everyone around you and gain the ability to brighten even the most deplorable circumstances into something bearable--or even something sublime.

a reply to: Trachel

Nice post.

Nothing inherently wrong with it, but I think that people also have to understand their responsibility for their own futures. I know some people (honestly, way too many people) that lived in the moment (lived the dream) for their lives only to have everything come to a crash when they realized they are heading towards the twilight years and have no way to take care of themselves.

I'd say live the dream, but watch out for the hangover.