Failed dreams

[Paralyzer Z]

We have all had things that as children or even teenagers dreamed of doing one day. Constantly overused examples in the media include "I want to be the president, I want to be an astronaut, I want to be a rock star!"...etc.

Yet very few of us ever accomplish those pre-adulthood dreams and become something we have never given a second thought when we were younger. My example is when I was about 5 through ten I decided I wanted to be a movie director, now to be honest that is still a possibility for me due to creativity (said by teachers) and being under 18. However what is your story, the dream you had that you look back today and say "WOW that was so stupid" or "Man I wish really followed up on that"

What was your dream/goal for life (such as a career, love life, or certain goal) that you failed at or left behind? How did it fall through?

 

[#hamler]

I really wanted to become an actor. When I was younger, I looked at some cool actors like the Will Smith's or the Wesley Snipes in movies and thought that would just be much fun; kissing a hot actress or jumping off exploding cars and whatnot. I did a few plays in middle school but right around my freshman year in high school, I just got out of it. It seemed too much like a fantasy than a reality. Would I like to become an actor now, no, I've lost touch with it. Looking back, I do think it was a bit of a stupid reason to want to act. I'm sure an actor's life isn't all fun and games but I'd damn sure like to have all the money they make. Lulz.

 

[LilacFray]

I've always wanted to be an Air Hostess. Ah. Just the name gives me that dreamy feeling. The first time I traveled in an Airplane's when I was 7. I saw all these beautiful and smiling creatures wearing pretty outfits, being able to speak more than one language and keeping people happy. I was so awestruck by them, I didn't hesitate to tell everyone - that I wanted to become an Air Hostess someday. There was this particular lovely lady Far East Asian lady, I still remember the name tag which read 'Chérie.' Then I slowly grew out of it by the passing years. The lives they lead - away from their home and always on the move. I knew I wouldn't be able to stand that. And how gorgeous they were, I knew I wouldn't be qualified. I still saw them twice every year since I go back home for the Summer. Last month, I accompanied my Older Sister to the Airport and saw them again. Pilots and Flight Attendants busily walking out of the Airport, with one small hand luggage and that confident look on their faces. I couldn't help but stop and stare at them the way I used to again. xD Hm.. But right now I've got a teaching career on my mind.

 

[Dagger Dias]

At one point I wanted to be in a rock band. I put up flyers at school to see if anyone was interested. I was going to be the lead guitarist as well as the frontman so I needed a drummer, a secondary guitarist, and a keyboard player. I did manage to get two responses. A classmate wanted to be my drummer and a guy from my church offered to be our manager. Nothing else ever happened though. When I realized that it was going nowhere I changed my mind because I did not want it enough to pursue a solo artist career. I kinda sucked anyway looking back on it so it's for the best that things fell through when they did.

 

[The Crock]

Football. I didn't necessarily "fail," but I didn't excel the level that I would have liked. As a younger kid I had wanted to be an NFL football player, I adored it, still do. Then as I got older I realized that it was very unrealistic, so I put it into perspective. I got tabbed as the starting QB in high school and thought that I might be able to make it as a college football player. As a high schooler I had had a successful career, only lost 6 games in 4 years and got selected as an honorable mention on the All State Team. That being said, I didn't garner the attention from colleges that I thought I would. I was disappointed, but that didn't mean the end of the world to me. I was an excellent student, so I got into the University of Utah on a scholarship. As of right now, I want to pursue a law career, maybe make my way into politics later on in my life.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Listen,

This post I'm going to make here is meant to be inspirational, but, right off the bat, let me just say that most of these posts are laughable. Three of you have no excuses whatsoever for dropping your dreams. Dagger Dias and Crock have a little bit of justification, because in Dagger's case it sounds like he just wanted to be a rockstar and not an actual guitarist (sorry if this isn't the case, Dagger), and, in Crock's case, you have an EXTREMELY small window of opportunity to be a American football player (on the other hand, Crock, let me drop two names on you: John Beck and Danny Watkins; unless you have a new passion, your dream of college ball is still feasible). Now I'm going to address the rest of you:

Zrise: You're still under 18. Why the hell do you still not have the dream of becoming a film director? For most people, dreams don't die until they're middle-aged and/or saddled with a TON of responsibility (e.g., a mortgage, a family to support, and mouths to feed). I'm going to key you in to something right now that I wish someone would have keyed me in on when I was your age: society EXPECTS you to be fickle, impulsive, and stupid at your age. I'm not saying to go out and steal cars, but sow your wild oats/be rebellious now. People are MUCH less sympathetic to your mistakes as you become older, and it becomes much harder to follow your dreams when you err as a legal adult. Through determination and a little bit of luck, I was able to overcome a grievous mistake on my part when I was 22 (I'm 27 now). I am forever thankful for that and it never ceases to amaze how I've been given a second chance. However, this is a situation you DO NOT want to be in, and you must avoid it like the plague.

If you still want to be a filmmaker but don't think you currently have the grades to make it into a top film program, don't worry about it. If necessary, kick ass in community college; if you can perform there, no one's going to give a shit about how you did in high school. USC, UCLA, Columbia, NYU: they'll all give more weight to your academic performance after you received your diploma.

Lilac Fray: What the fuck are you on about? You're 15 right now. Who's to say you won't want to get away from your family and see the world when you're 18? I've seen pictures of you: you're an attractive young lady. Besides, you don't need to look like you walked out of a Victoria's Secret catalog to work as an air hostess (furthermore, a lot of air hostesses are middle-aged; by your thinking, shouldn't they have been kicked to the curb at an earlier age?). This is a dream that's easy to pursue, and I'm flummoxed over your reasons for suppressing it.

Hamler: Your reasoning is a bit more understandable than the rest. Like Dagger, you were attracted to the glamorous aspects of acting. Ask yourself this, though: from your limited experiences with acting, what would you be willing to sacrifice to get to the point where you would be jumping out of exploding buildings and making out with hot women? If you can't see yourself sacrificing that much, then maybe you weren't as passionate about being an action star as you thought you were. If this is the case, find out what does make you passionate.

 

[Paralyzer Z]

Listen,

This post I'm going to make here is meant to be inspirational, but, right off the bat, let me just say that most of these posts are laughable. Three of you have no excuses whatsoever for dropping your dreams. Dagger Dias and Crock have a little bit of justification, because in Dagger's case it sounds like he just wanted to be a rockstar and not an actual guitarist (sorry if this isn't the case, Dagger), and, in Crock's case, you have an EXTREMELY small window of opportunity to be a American football player (on the other hand, Crock, let me drop two names on you: John Beck and Danny Watkins; unless you have a new passion, your dream of college ball is still feasible). Now I'm going to address the rest of you:

Zrise: You're still under 18. Why the hell do you still not have the dream of becoming a film director? For most people, dreams don't die until they're middle-aged and/or saddled with a TON of responsibility (e.g., a mortgage, a family to support, and mouths to feed). I'm going to key you in to something right now that I wish someone would have keyed me in on when I was your age: society EXPECTS you to be fickle, impulsive, and stupid at your age. I'm not saying to go out and steal cars, but sow your wild oats/be rebellious now. People are MUCH less sympathetic to your mistakes as you become older, and it becomes much harder to follow your dreams when you err as a legal adult. Through determination and a little bit of luck, I was able to overcome a grievous mistake on my part when I was 22 (I'm 27 now). I am forever thankful for that and it never ceases to amaze how I've been given a second chance. However, this is a situation you DO NOT want to be in, and you must avoid it like the plague.

If you still want to be a filmmaker but don't think you currently have the grades to make it into a top film program, don't worry about it. If necessary, kick ass in community college; if you can perform there, no one's going to give a shit about how you did in high school. USC, UCLA, Columbia, NYU: they'll all give more weight to your academic performance after you received your diploma.

Lilac Fray: What the fuck are you on about? You're 15 right now. Who's to say you won't want to get away from your family and see the world when you're 18? I've seen pictures of you: you're an attractive young lady. Besides, you don't need to look like you walked out of a Victoria's Secret catalog to work as an air hostess (furthermore, a lot of air hostesses are middle-aged; by your thinking, shouldn't they have been kicked to the curb at an earlier age?). This is a dream that's easy to pursue, and I'm flummoxed over your reasons for suppressing it.

Hamler: Your reasoning is a bit more understandable than the rest. Like Dagger, you were attracted to the glamorous aspects of acting. Ask yourself this, though: from your limited experiences with acting, what would you be willing to sacrifice to get to the point where you would be jumping out of exploding buildings and making out with hot women? If you can't see yourself sacrificing that much, then maybe you weren't as passionate about being an action star as you thought you were. If this is the case, find out what does make you passionate.

I apologize but I have may have worded that wrong. I said that there is STILL A POSSIBILITY that I may become a film-maker. In fact I was writing an essay as an assignment from my school that was based on persistence, or not quitting. The kid next to me on the computer had written about 5 times the length of what I wrote, so when we submitted the essay for scoring (the scale was from one to six, with six being a prefect essay). I scored a 5.3 which is an advanced level, while the other kid got only average, despite the length of his. Then I asked myself if I had applied what I had written to my life. Of course the answer was yes. When it comes to what you said society expects teenagers to do, I have a rather interesting perspective. I have been inspired by the advice of my parents, and as well as some TV shows and taken them to heart. Everyday I see my peers doing the things society has assumed is inevitable of them, such as misconduct. Anyway back to my point, I was told at a young age to not give up, which is exactly what I have done in terms of my goals. The reason I stated that I may have given up on it was because I have another interest that may have overtaken it. Psychology is my other option, and I am very interested in it. It has garnered a bit more desire from my than movie making in recent years. Though either or I become, satisfaction is the outcome for me, I also have the grades for both. I can understand what said for Lilac though.

Sorry that was a bad example as I could not think of another one. I never gave up on film-making, its just that I have had another interest that may become my career, though I will not give up on either. I will admit your post was inspirational.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

When I was in my early teens I wanted to be a rapper, but I gave up on that really fast. I really didn't like the entire process of writing a song, and I couldn't freestyle to save my life. Eventually, I realized I didn't want to be a rapper. I would sit in front of my TV, and drool over the music videos. I wanted the money, the jewellery, the expensive foreign cars, and the hot women. I didn't want to be a rapper. I was just attracted to the flashy lifestyle.

Giving up being rapper didn't bother me at all, but I always loved basketball. I had dreams of making it to the NBA. I had the privilege of watching Jordan and the Bulls during the second three peat run in the mid to late 90's. I was a kid, and I loved every second of the Bulls championship run. Jordan inspired me. Hell, there was a time when I wanted to be a North Carolina Tar Heel, and I did try out for the basketball team a few times in high school. Some years my grades weren't good enough, and I had a slight hiccup with a physical one time, but I was still determined to give it a shot. I never made the team, and after my final try out in my senior year, I started to lose hope pretty quickly. I still played a few pick-up games here and there, but I eventually gave up on basketball. I just stopped playing, gave up the pipe dream, and finally got a regular job after a while.

Maybe I wasn't training right, or maybe I just didn't have it. But I do know I gave my best efforts every time I practiced/trained, and I didn't want to return to the drawing board again. Failure can be an awful gut wrenching feeling, especially when you're trying to chase your dreams. I was giving 100%, but it still wasn't good enough, and I didn't want to start over. Also, once I finally gave up on my dreams to reach the NBA, I started to think more clearly, and that crushed feeling I had slowly went away. Everyone can't make it into in the NBA, and only a select few can reach the level of a great player. It's almost impossible to be drafted into the NBA. I realized this when I finally accepted the slim chances, and I didn't want to push anymore.