Category: Words of Wisdom

Why Do We Give Up on a Dream?

Why do we give up on a dream?  Why do we start a project with such an excitement only to end up feeling frustrated and defeated?

Starting a new dream is never easy, especially if this involves a transition into a new career or into a business venture we haven’t explored before.  But starting it is the easier part.  Persevering in that dream until it comes true is the harder part.

Below are some of the reasons I’ve noted why we give up on our dreams

1.        Lack of Resources

We may have miscalculated the cost that our dream would take, and this includes both money and the time we need to reach our goals.

We may have started out believing it would only take six months before we could start earning with our new business, but then a year passes by and we hardly breakeven.  Add to this the funds we need to continue infusing for the business as well as the cost of living we need in our day to day lives.

Before you start out with a dream, be sure to calculate the costs and make wide allowances.  If you think it would take you six months to at least breakeven, have sufficient resources for two years!

2.       Lack of Progress

It could also be that although you have allotted sufficient resources for your dream, you could see no tangible progress in reaching it as time passes by.  This in turn lowers your enthusiasm.  You start to question yourself if it is really possible to reach your dreams.

During such times, it is best to take a reality check.  Do you still honestly believe that what you are aiming at is still possible?  Or are you just becoming impatient with its attainment?  How long have you seen other people reach similar dreams?  Is it time to retreat and pack up?  Or is it merely time to make a slight detour towards a better strategy?

3.       Lack of Passion

Your passion for your dream will be tested not just a dozen times, but a hundred times!  Is this really what you want to do?  Are you in it for the money only or for a higher purpose?  Is this your real dream or just the dream of the people around you?

Many people give up on their dreams because they have come to realize that the dream they set out to accomplish is not their true dream.  It may be disheartening to know this after all the time, money and effort exerted, but it is still a blessing because now, they would know better what they really want.

There is a time to persevere and a time to give up, a time to dream and a time to move on and make better dreams!  Have the wisdom and the humility to acknowledge your stage of the journey, and pray for God’s guidance to help you see His beautiful plan for your life.

What really pulls us down are the things that once pulled us up!

It isn’t the things we haven’t had or experienced that pulls us down.  It’s the things that we once had, and the possessions we once treasured that we are burdened with.

We are burdened with the memories of the people we’ve loved and lost.

We are pulled down by the things we’ve had back in the good old days.

We are weighed down by our failures, by the things we did but did not work out the way we wanted them to.

“I’ve tried everything,” is much more painful than not being able to try anything at all.  Beneath those words is that feeling of exhaustion, and sometimes, of hopelessness, because if we have already tried everything, what else is left for us to do?

And that is why it is harder to get up after a fall than to rise up without any memory of pain.  We’re afraid to try again.  We’re afraid to have tried our very best only to know that even our best is still not enough.

A child oftentimes seem more courageous than older people because he hasn’t been hurt as much.  His hope is full of all the wonderful things he feels he can still do.  His memory is not yet burdened with failures and doubts.

But the one who is really more courageous is the person who rises up despite of his many falls.  It is being able to go on despite the hurt, and to move forward despite losing much of his hope.

When one is trapped between his approaching enemies and a dead-end leading only to a vast open sea, his hope is almost nil.  But if he could still pray and believe that even there, God can save him and make a way, he has already achieved victory and much courage.  For that man, even the seas will be parted to make way for his faith!

Fall seven times, stand up eight. – Japanese Proverb

BEGIN AGAIN

There’d be times when you’d mess up big
times you’d fail
times you’d trip so hard
you’d get knocked down bad
Times like that you’d want to quit
but BEGIN AGAIN.

There’d be times when you’d say
“Enough is enough,
I’ve really had it now,
why bother trying?”
Yeah, there’d be times you’d get so tired
but still, BEGIN AGAIN.

There’d be times you’d think
you’ve just lost everything
times you’ve risked it all
and got back nothin’
Times like that you’d feel
everything you’ve worked so hard for
were in vain, but BEGIN AGAIN.

Begin again,
try again,
believe again,
love again.

There’d be a second wind,
there’d be another star,
there’d be another hand,
to help you rise again.

Don’t start quitting,
never stop dreaming.
A new tomorrow waits
for those who dare –
to BEGIN AGAIN.

Related Posts:
It Is Not Yet Too Late for You
Perseverance is Your Key to Success
Falling Apart and Rising Again

Love Is Not About Being Useful

Love is not about being useful.  It is not about being stronger or wealthier or more beautiful.  Love is not about efficiency or productivity.  It is not about numbers or keeping count.  Love is not about loving a faceless crowd.  It is about loving one unique person at a time.  Love is not about avoiding pain.  It is continuing to care for another despite the hurt and difficulties that comes along.  Love is not about controlling.   It is about true freedom.  Love is not about lies.  It is about being true to oneself and one’s desires.

And since loves is like this, love is never an easy thing to grasp.  Love will always include taking chances and making sacrifices.  Love will always require that we give everything, for nothing is truly worth living for in this world save for LOVE.

Related Posts:

My Top 12 Quotes and Articles About Love
Love is Like a Beautiful Painting
We Need More Than Kindness
Will You Still Love Me Even If I’m Not Perfect?
Love is Not Blind
The Kind of Love That Heals

Life Is Like a Big Puzzle That Never Gets Solved

All my life, I felt like I was trying to build a big puzzle, a puzzle made up of the following pieces:

• favorite things
• memorable places
•  activities and adventures
• books that I’ve read
•  unforgettable smiles and tears
• simple and sweet moments
• food that made me happy
• movies that made me wonder
• beliefs
• hopes and dreams
• little miracles
• accomplishments
• people who taught me
• people who loved me
• people who made a difference in my life

Sometimes I feel as though everything is really making sense, and a good image is already being formed here and there.  Sometimes it even feels like there are only a few more pieces left to find and the puzzle would be complete.

But then something unexpected happens, like when some of the pieces suddenly gets blown away and I have to find them again.  Sometimes, some pieces just disappear and get totally lost.

When things like that happens, the image being formed is suddenly shattered, and I have to put the pieces back in a new way so they could all fit somehow.

Maybe life is like that.  Life is like a big puzzle that never really gets solved until the very end.  All we could do is to try our best to gather the pieces, to make sense of the images we can form somewhat, and to hope that one day, everything will make sense, and the picture formed will be far better than we ever expected it to be.

“In our endeavour to understand reality we are somewhat like a man trying to understand the mechanism of a closed watch. He sees the face and the moving hands, even hears its ticking, but he has no way of opening the case.” – Albert Einstein