Many times we hear people say, “Let’s be realistic.” Who decides what is realistic, and the difference between realistic or fantasy or just a dream or an imagination?
When we are children, we have such a vivid imagination, soaring higher and higher; reaching for the sky, dreaming and pretending we are the best in the world. Where does that magic of youth disappear? Why is it that when we grow up and get older, we dream less and less and we become more critical and more “realistic.”
We live in a world where we must act according to a certain set of human conduct and behavior that is fit for society. A professional, such as a doctor, lawyer or successful business person, is very prestigious. However, if you are a successful doctor, do you remember to smile in your reality? Do you remember to still dream of pretty sunsets and walks down by the river? Are you still connected to going beyond just this day and what needs to be done? Do you still create and never stop wanting to go higher and higher?
Not everyone is cut out for the same type of work. There are so many wonderful things one can become. Some are more practical while others are spiritual, others artistic while others athletes, dancers, teachers and so on.
A person should listen and look inside their hearts and dream, and aspire to want more of whatever it is they love or want. Believe in yourself, even if the whole world thinks you’ve gone mad. Create for yourself that magical energy you had when you were just a child. When you thought everything in the world was all pink and roses. We can’t change the world. We can’t stop the rapid and vast race of technology where things change every second.
Enjoy the moment, enjoy dreaming that what you really want should come true. Our days are so filled with what we need to do, have to do, emergencies, and realities that never end. We hardly have time to prepare or eat a proper meal, let alone get a good night’s sleep.
We can’t stop time, nor do we want to. The trick is to make what you have and what your reality is and turn it into something you love. Turn your darkness into light by bringing in the light yourself.
If you are ill and can’t move around much, find joy in reading, in laughing, in looking out the window and seeing the beautiful blue sky or a pretty rainy day. Everything is just in the way we see it. If you have no children, look at the beauty in others. Whatever it is we are going through is exactly what we are meant to be going through. How we get through it is another story.
I love acting, I love the theater and everything about it. I tried many years to learn acting in school and get promoted to a good acting job or anything even close. I aspired, believed I could, and tried to create the right moments for it all to happen, and… nothing came my way, despite all my efforts.
So instead of despairing and being sad, I picked myself up and decided that the whole world is my stage and that I have the best audience at all times. And I have the best producer in the world: G-d of course. I am a born actress, it’s my passion and what I love, I play so many different roles and I am great at them all. This is my way of taking a reality of a closed door in my face and turning it around to see the stage wherever I go. Every so often I can hear the angels clapping their wings for me when I put on a great act. The best part of it all is that it’s not an act; it’s the real thing and that makes it so much better and everlasting.
Whatever it is you wish to do, there is no age limit and no reality that can take your wish away from you. If a person can’t leave their home and no one comes by to visit and this person is feeling so lonely and lost, open up a window, invite the goodness of the world to come in. Put on music and even if you can’t dance, imagine that you are dancing and you have a main role in Swan Lake. Let your imagination take you out of your sad “realistic” life and soar higher than an eagle. Enjoy this world and your lot, in whatever shape it was given to you.
Hashem is watching over us. He wants to see what we do with the reality he gave us?
Do we still aspire for greatness or is it too late for us?
Do we still believe in the beauty of the world and all it has to give us? Or have we given up believing that life is beautiful?
Do we still create, even though we might be old and gray, and tired from life’s turns and curves? Or do we still try to make a wonderful moment even out of a moment that we’d rather forget?
No one lives forever, and when all is said and done we leave this world. So create wonderful moments, believe in yourself and in the goodness that surrounds you, and never stop aspiring to be the best that you can be. Never stop being happy. After all, you have everything you need. And if there is something you are missing shoot for the heavens and bring it down.