As children we are told to follow our dreams. As adults we make bucket lists as a way of dealing with our own mortality. We judge our lives on what we have done, what items we have checked off our list.

The problem is dreams become idealized. Every little detail is planned out. The focus is so much on having the experience and checking it off the list that there is no preparation for the aftermath. If a dream is large enough and means enough to the person than it can become hard to move on to the next dream, to simply check it off the list.

That’s what happened to me this summer. I had dreamed about going to South Africa for two years. During those two years I defined myself as the girl going to Africa. When I finally got there, it was everything I ever imagined. I spent 23 days in complete bliss dedicating every day to serving children who were oprhanded due to AIDS.

However, after I came home, the bliss abruptly ended. I was at loss for what to do next. I had dedicated myself so long to simply going to Africa that I had no idea what to dedicate myself to after it was over. It tore me up. Then after starting school again, and I began to understand what I had to do. I had to stop defining myself by my dream and start defining my dreams by who I am.

A person is not supposed to live their lives based around a dream. Dreams are supposed to enhance life, not run it. Follow your dreams with everything you have, but do not let everything you have be your dream.