Follow Your Dreams

It's funny how the attitude of your family and peers changes as you grow. In the beginning it's all, "Follow your dreams, you can be anything you want be!", but somewhere along the line, this all goes out the window. It becomes, "Get good grades, go to a good school so you can get a good job." What happened to all the positive support we once all got from our parents? Is there just a certain age where it becomes taboo to want to do what makes you happy? It saddens me when I look around at my family and friends and see them do something day in and day out that they hate, but for some odd reason they seem completely content with it. I don't know if I'm just weird or a social deviant, but I would much rather make just enough to get by doing what I love, than making boat loads slaving away at something that I hate. Why are material things so important to us that we are willing to give up all our hopes ande aspirations to make more money. I for one am fed up with all the go to school and make good money crap we're fed as teenagers; I decided a long time ago that I'm going full speed ahead towards my dreams.

Shooting for the stars was all it once took to make Mom and Dad proud, now that's just not enough. Well guess what, I don't care anymore and neither should you. Do what makes YOU proud. I for one have huge dreams that most probably think are childish and impossible, does that make them wrong? Not at all. I don't want to be "just another faceless nobody" in society, I want to be remembered 100, hell, 1000 years from now. When future Jiu-Jitsu players are sitting around the mats in the centuries to come, discussing Jiu-Jitsu, I want MY name to come out of their mouth. "Who do you think was the best ever?" "Oh man, 'Jacare' was great!" "Roger always smashed everyone!" "What about Ryan Heilman?" "That guy was amazing!" That's what I want for myself! And if that's too much to ask, I'm sorry, but I will die in pursuit of that dream. You have one life to live, why not make it the best? If you died today, would you look back and say, "I did all I could do and I'm happy with myself" or would you more likely say, "I just survived, living another meaningless life that no one will care about once my relatives are gone," probably the latter. I'm not saying you have to be Babe Ruth, but at least do what makes you happy, and if you fail, at least you did what you loved while trying.

Here's a song that I really enjoy that helps me to remember that I don't just want to be the guy that hates his job and that I truly don't want to grow up: