I'm in a bit of a weird place right now - just about to leave my job in a week and no idea what comes next!!! I know I'm not the only one in this position right now and I'm finding it interesting seeing how different people deal with it.
At first it's a great feeling to step out of something that's not right any more and have the whole world at your feet. And for a while you dare to dream of all the things you could do. You begin asking 'what do I enjoy? What do I want to be involved in? If I could have any job or achieve anything what would I do?' And for a while it's all very exciting and the future is filled with hope and endless possibilities.
But after a while there comes a crunch point. The pressure of bills to pay begins to cause worry. Friends tell you your dreams are crazy and you should get a 'proper job' or 'it'll never work'. And it's here that you have a vital choice to make:
1) Cave into the pressure and just get any old job. Conform to the pattern of society - trapped in a 9-5 prison just to pay the bills. Abandon your dreams and settled for second best.
or
2) Hold tight to your dreams. Resolve to risk whatever you have to so as to do what you really want. Dare to believe that dreams can come true and refuse to settle for anything less.
In the past few weeks I've had chats with various friends about future plans. Our conversations were full of dreams of travelling, learning new skills, seeing talents used instead of rotting away in some mindless job and bold proclamations that 'money doesn't matter - I just wanna do what I love'.
Sadly, I've had to watch one of my friends cave to the pressure to get a job just to pay the bills. It's so hard to escape the pattern that society has us sucked into. Breaking out and doing something meaningful is so hard and involves sacrifices people often aren't willing to make. And so there's people with talent and potential and big dreams hidden in their heart rotting away in Burger King when they could be out changing the world.
Seeing my friend give up has made me even more determined not to do the same thing. So I've been busily planning, networking, making enquires, pushing doors and daring to be cheeky. A motto of the British Special Air Force is: 'Those who risk, win.' I'm beginning to see the truth of this. I decided to be really cheeky and ask the head of buildings and development at the council to help us find a building for something I wanna set up. I paused for a while before hitting 'send' on the email, wondering if it's such a good idea or would he think I'm nuts. Only a few minutes later I got a reply saying he loves my idea and will ask round a few people to find a site and see what other help he can give!!
So - dare to dream. Dare to ask cheeky questions. Dare to take risks. And don't let the fear of failure hold you back. I'll end with this quote from the film Elizabethtown...
"You wanna be really great? Then have the courage to fail big and stick around. Make them wonder why you're still smiling."
