Why You Should Allow Yourself To Take A Break From Chasing Dreams

We’re designed to compete. We’re meant to be dreamchasers. I have never met anyone who wouldn’t chop off their arm for their goals and aspirations — I totally would. But running isn’t the same as breathing; we don’t need to take a break and skip breaths unlike running. Look at your jogging regimes: you don’t run a marathon — it’s 30 minutes to an hour, at most. You’ll reach your limit, stop to catch your breath, drink water and rest. Then you’re off running for a couple more rounds.

As you go through living like an adult ticking off goal after goal without no indications of stopping, you realize, it gets tiresome. For the past few years, you’ve been a machine programmed to get a job, come up with decent work, be a provider, act accordingly, go to sleep and tomorrow? You wake up and do the same thing. It’s become routine. But for what purpose? Is it really a dream or a responsibility? While it undeniably feels rewarding to do and achieve all these things for your family (no one forced you to do anything, to begin with), the sad truth is, you lose yourself during the process. You’re working for other people, but what about you?

You get too caught up thinking about your dreams and acting upon them that you unconsciously drain yourself. You wanted instant gratification, but things don’t happen overnight. With this, you start to abuse your mind and body; your skills and determination. As a result, you become less efficient in your own craft. Much more, you forget what exactly are you going after and why. No one wants to get derailed with their path towards their dreams. As much as you don’t want to admit it, you need a break — and it’s one of the best decisions you’ll ever do.

Get Out Of Your Base

Ever felt thinking about too many things at the same time? It’s stressful. Like you’re on a bullet train going 300 miles per hour that you fear your life if the trail derails? It’s terrifying. That’s one good sign that it is time to take some time off — go on a vacation. Don’t climb mountains if you’re looking to find yourself because that is not true. You don’t need to climb a mountain to find yourself. Let your mind wonder someplace else than your office or home, it helps you clear your mind and regain control of things; clear your perspective. After all, you’ve been working mad, this is the perfect time to veg out and be lazy (you might not agree, but it worked for me). A little appreciation outside your world wouldn’t hurt you, or your career.

Look Back

Take a step back to see how far you’ve come. Sometimes when you’re too focused on achieving your goals, you forget where you stand, even your game plan. Stop and recall what happened in the past year or two — what you’ve achieved, what changed. With this, you’ll be able to map out your next move. There is no definite path to the doorway to your dreams but you just have to hold on to that hope and trust yourself that you’re going to make it happen. After all, you’re already a lot closer that you think.

Touch Your Creative Side

It’s completely not an issue if you’re not creative by nature. The secret is to actually stop thinking and start doing. Just get lost in something you’ve always wanted to try — photography, calligraphy, writing, cooking… anything. The goal here is to give yourself a fresh experience at something that is foreign to you. Don’t worry if you completely suck because it’s meant to. We’re going after imperfection right here. Be spontaneous and let go, just this once.

Get Real With Yourself

One of the things that make you more uninspired is lying to yourself. Put your big girl panties on and face your reality. If you feel unhappy, let it absorb you. Focus on the emotion you’re currently in — they demand to be felt (I totally agree with you on this one, John Green). Don’t try to cheer yourself all the time. While it’s a good outlook to have, give yourself a window of vulnerability. One day you’ll just notice that you don’t have to try to cheer yourself because you’re not sad anymore.

Life is one big bipolar case. Good things happen, bad things happen. But you shouldn’t let the things we can’t control steal your spark (and spunk) away. Remember that we are entitled to feel tired and uninspired, even if we’re running towards the best things we’re ought to have. That’s one way of letting ourselves hear our own voice. Working hard is not always the key to achieving our dreams — it’s about balance. It’s that equilibrium between working and loving what you do. Always keep your magic alive, because you’ll never know, you might be making somebody else’s dreams come true too by being a real-life inspiration to them in search for their own purpose.