“How would you feel if you followed someone else’s dreams for you and ignored your own?”
This question came up during a meeting I attended a couple weeks ago. I pondered the question for several days after because that’s what I’ve always done.
Personally I’ve wanted to pursue a creative career but followed in the footsteps that society has planned for young people. You know what I’m talking about the whole, go to school, go to college, pick a major, find a boyfriend, graduate, get married and live happily ever after.
Now, I’m not saying this is a bad plan or that this is somewhat a natural progression, but it isn’t reality for many people. Sometimes life does not go according to plan and although you might have a fabulous one lined up, there is a chance Jesus might have something better in mind.
2014 was an excellent example of life plans changing for me. As the year started, I was walking into my fourth year of being with the love of my life, Mike. We were going through a rough patch but were determined to sort out our problems because marriage had always been the goal for us.
We were both young and trying to figure out our individual dreams while attempting to maintain our relationship. As the year unfolded our arguments grew more intense. Eventually our paths did not align and we went our separate ways. My five year plan dissolved right in front of me. The man I kept seeing in my future with a house, kids and beautiful memories vanished. It was (and still is in some moments) the most difficult processes of healing Jesus brought me through.
The cold hard truth is, yes I could have seen myself marrying him but I wasn’t ready to. Considering our age and the amount of time we dated, there was a lot pressure to be married. Other people thought that’s what we were supposed to do. As individuals Mike and I had other dreams we wanted to accomplish first.
Although it has been a difficult healing process, it has been the most rewarding. As the days progressed without him, I was able to find who I really was and what my own dreams were. I then started to take action on those dreams. I wanted to write but because of health problems I had to leave school. I was lost. How was I going to get anywhere without schooling? That’s when realized I had to prove myself and built a website to feature interviews of creative artists. I talked to a wide variety of artists from painters to photographers to musicians. I wanted to hear about their journeys, not only to help pull myself out of this hole but to help others that felt stuck. I sat down with some incredible people, some that were way too “famous” for little ole me, an independent journalist. Not only did Jesus prove that I could do anything but he opened my mind to the bigger dreams He had for me. He connected me with amazing people to work with, Pure Design being one of them!
So what’s next? What’s the plan for 2015?
My New Year’s Resolution is to stay where Jesus has placed me and continue to work hard at it. Ultimately, I’d love to be a freelance writer and travel the world to hear other incredible stories. As I type that out every responsible adult cell in my body comes up with a million reasons why that shouldn’t happen. But its 2015, this is new territory, so why not?
Let me ask you again, “How would you feel if you followed someone else’s dreams for you and ignored your own?” We would love to hear your responses and 2015 dreams on our Facebook page, here in the comment section or on Twitter!
Happy New Year friends! All of us here at Pure Design our followers!! Keep your eyes open for us this year, it’s going to be a fantastic one, not only for us individually but for our team!
