“Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey is one of those songs that every time I hear it, I get a super pumped. (sorry for the crazy ammounts of pop ups that are on this video) But the song reminds to hold on to that which matters most to you.
My wife and I have fallen in love with the show “Glee” which is where this version of this song comes from. What I love so much about this show is that it reinforces a lot of good things that are missing in high school dramas. Now, granted it supports A LOT of things I don’t think are very healthy. The core of the show, however, deals with kids getting over themselves and realizing their potential, or embracing a dream. While it may not be a show to live by, point after point, it does have a lot of redeeming qualities: The high school football star realizes he doesn’t care what people thinks and pursues his dreams of singing. The struggling teacher finds purpose again in going after a life he’s “really passionate about.” It’s full of those sorts of things.
Why this matters to me is because I think there’s a misconception with people. We’re all raised as children to believe we can become anything we want to be. We believe it and pretty quickly want to become a dinosaur when we grow up. I kid, obviously, but kids do have real dreams that grow out of themselves from that sort of thing. When I was in third grade I wanted to be a marine biologist. It was then that I had my first adult moment, now that I look back on it.
I pretty well remember being at the beach, playing around with fish in the water and thinking, “I do not feel like studying science this much or touching these things everyday.” I then wanted to be a ninja, before taking out a sheet of paper to draw one. Shortly after comics became a real desire in my heart.
So, the misconception I think kids are given is this. We are told we can be whatever we want to be when we grow up, but we tend forget the qualifying statement attached to that: if you work REALLY hard. I spent most of my life in high school wanting to be a comic book artist, but I think drew maybe 15 pages of actual comics work. It wasn’t really until about 8 years later that I got really serious about creating comics. I have truly come to appreciate that wisdom of working hard at things. What I think happens with us is we believe that once we go to college for that dream job, we will be able to graduate and end up in our desired field. We’re all a bit dismayed when we end up going into a completely different profession. What happens is we get comfortable making a living and that’s good for a lot of people. And I do believe that it is enough for a lot people, and that’s a great thing. I really do think that. What bothers me are the people who sit watching the tv at night and wonder if they’ll ever have a job they love, having a life that they are truly passionate about.
I’m very happy about all of things I have. I have a great job, I have a loving family, home etc. The Lord has been so good to me. But I know where I want to go. And I sing that great ballad by Journey to myself every so often to remind myself to keep going. No matter what. Because I too believe that you should be passionate about the life you live. That means a lot of things to a lot of people. Whatever it is (beyond it being illegal, completely gross or just silly) you should keep that flame alive. Dedicate your life to it and work with all your might. You never know… One day you may realize it’s come true.
So get to work.